A microchip-based device developed by Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigators may greatly simplify the monitoring of patients' response to treatment for ovarian cancer – the most lethal form of gynecologic cancer – and certain other malignancies. The team from the MGH Cancer Center and the Center for Systems Biology reports using their device to isolate and identify tumor cells from ascites, an accumulation of fluid in the abdomen that often occurs in abdominal cancers. The PNAS Early Edition paper also describes development of a panel of four protein markers to accurately identify ovarian cancer cells in ascites.
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