Methods to Detect and Quantify Circulating Cell-Free DNA: Opportunities for Liquid Biopsy Development

20 Mar 2016, at 19:00 - 21:30 in Boston, USA

Course Title: Methods to Detect and Quantify Circulating Cell-Free DNA: Opportunities for Liquid Biopsy Development

Introduction to this Training Course

Circulating cell-free DNA fragments (cfDNA) are shed into the bloodstream by cells in the body.  Circulating cell-free tumor DNA (ctDNA) is a fraction of cfDNA in the plasma of cancer patients shed from tumor cells and carries genetic alterations specific to tumor cells.  Recent advances in digital PCR and Next Generation Sequencing technologies have made it feasible to detect and quantify ctDNA reliably.   It is foreseeable that “liquid biopsy” and non-invasive ctDNA analysis would become an effective alternative to serial tumor biopsies.  ctDNA has important clinical applications including early detection, minimal residual disease detection, monitoring of treatment response and resistance and genotyping cancer patients.  Moreover, recent studies have demonstrated that ctDNA is practical biomarkers for oncology drug development, serving as pharmacodynamics markers, early response markers, and patient stratification markers.

This training course seeks to provide an overview of the state of the art of ctDNA analysis as well as the detailed information on sample collection and processing.  The goal of this course is to provide attendees with a working knowledge of approaches, applications, and existing commercial offerings for ctDNA analysis, thus enabling them to incorporate liquid biopsy into their research.

Major Themes Addressed in this Training Course

1. Circulating cell-free tumor DNA (ctDNA)
2. Methods for analysis of ctDNA
3. Applications of ctDNA
   

Specific Topics Addressed in this Training Course

• The scientific background on ctDNA
• Sample collection and processing:  Streck vs. EDTA
• Methods to detect and quantify ctDNA: dPCR vs. NGS (Digital PCR vs. Next Generation Sequencing)
• Utility of ctDNA in the clinic
• Utility of ctDNA in drug development R&D
• Survey of commercially-available ctDNA tests
• Looking into the future: ctDNA as potential Companion Diagnostics
• Can we combine them: ctDNA and circulating tumor cells (CTCs)
  

Who Should Attend

• Academic and industry researchers involved in studying various biofluid classes for liquid biopsy development
• Business development professionals from pharma, biotech, diagnostics companies as well as technology/tools companies seeking partnerships/collaborations
• Investors seeking a complete and thorough understanding of the liquid biopsy space
  

All course attendees receive electronic copies of the course presentations -- an excellent resource for business planning, R&D and investor presentations.