Solutions for Tumor Marker Discovery

Relying on the technology platform of the tumor microenvironment center, Alfa Cytology provides a full range of tumor marker discovery solutions to help scientific researchers successfully achieve their research goals.

Introduction

Tumor markers refer to endogenous proteins or metabolites whose amounts or modifications are indicative of tumor occurrence, status, metastasis, and response to therapy. They are present in tumor tissue or body fluids (in the tumor microenvironment) and include various molecules such as transcription factors, cell surface receptors, and secreted proteins. Effective tumor markers are urgently needed because they provide warnings for early intervention in tumor formation or recurrence and metastasis, and help us carry out early diagnosis, classification, and prognosis / treatment guidance of tumors. At present, modern medicine develops drugs with reliable curative effect targeting TM, or modulates the tumor microenvironment through traditional Chinese medicine to change the biological behavior of tumor cells as a whole. These are ideal means to prevent recurrence and metastasis.

Solutions

Malignant cells have developed adaptive mechanisms to survive the extreme conditions of the tumor microenvironment, such as limited oxygen supply, nutrient deprivation, and pro-oxidative states. Different types of cancer have different tumor markers, some tumor markers are associated with only 1 cancer, and some tumor markers are associated with more than 1 cancer. Well, many cancers have no known tumor markers, so tumor marker testing may not be an option. Researchers are always on the lookout for new, more effective tumor markers. In order to apply these findings to patient care, Alfa Cytology' preclinical research is vigorously conducting the validation and analytical development of multiple tumor markers by characterizing the most relevant characteristics of the tumor microenvironment, and then develop targeted drugs in this microenvironment.

Key technologies

At present, the detection methods of tumor markers mainly include radioimmunoassay, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, immunosensor assay, proteomics, protein chip technology, molecular biology method, liquid biopsy, etc.

Radioimmunoassay (traditional) combines radionuclide detection technology with the characteristics of antigen-antibody binding specificity to quantify trace substances.

Chemiluminescence immunoassay (commonly used and relatively mature) uses chemiluminescent substances as markers, and judges the amount of the substance to be tested according to the intensity of the luminescent signal.

Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (popular in clinical practice) coats the antigen or antibody on the solid support, adds the enzyme-labeled antigen/antibody into the antigen-antibody complex, and makes the enzyme color through the substrate to achieve the detection purpose.

Immunosensor is a detection method that combines specific immune response with biosensing technology. Its biorecognition part comes from the specific recognition and binding of antigen and antibody, and the biological signal is converted into electrical signal through physical and chemical transducer and signal amplification device, for detection.

Proteomic technology is the study of protein expression patterns and functional patterns. At present, it is widely used in oncology research and provides a good platform for tumor marker research.

The protein chip realizes the measurement and screening of protein molecules by directly reacting specifically with the protein molecules to be detected in the serum.

Liquid biopsy technology samples from non-solid samples such as blood, mainly including circulating tumor cell detection, circulating tumor DNA detection, and exosome detection.

Molecular biological methods include polymerase chain reaction, fluorescence in situ hybridization, reverse transcription PCR, single-strand conformation polymorphism, various sequencing technologies, etc.

Alfa Cytology is committed to supporting scientists in making breakthrough scientific discoveries and developing new applications to accelerate new drug discovery and scientific diagnosis and treatment. Our high-performance scientific instruments and high-value solutions enable scientists to explore the mysteries of life at the tumor microenvironment level. Please tell us your project requirements, and we will provide you with a full service from solution to report. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.

All of our services and products are intended for preclinical research use only and cannot be used to diagnose, treat or manage patients.