前沿科技及其它

Sentinel lymph node biopsy is now a widely accepted method of axillary lymph node staging for invasive breast cancer. This review encompasses the historical perspective of surgical management of the axilla; the data that has emerged over the last decade highlighting the accuracy, safety, a ...

One of the major challenges in molecular analysis of breast cancer specimens is tissue heterogeneity. The admixture of contaminating bystander cells might distort the results of quantitative molecular analyses. Therefore, pure tumor cell populations have to be isolated in order to o ...

A method for producing high-molecular-weight DNA from pulverized tissue, nuclear fractions, or cultured cells. This isolation method relies on the powerful proteolytic activity of proteinase K combined with the denaturing ability of the ionic detergent sodium dodecyl sulfate. Et ...

The guanidinium acid-phenol method of RNA extraction is relatively fast (4 h) and is useful for the processing of large numbers of samples, without the need for ultracentrifugation. This protocol produces total RNA that includes ribosomal, transfer, and messenger RNA. This high-quality R ...

This chapter outlines methods for the preparation of several different cellular fractions from whole samples of tumor and normal tissue.

Tissue microarrays have been used effectively to study representative tissue from large groups of patients, with minimal technical and reagent costs. The construction of these arrays may appear complex, but with the use of a semiautomated tissue arrayer and a degree of manual dexterity, sy ...

Taking a series of repeat biopsies or fine needle aspirates of a tumor during the course of therapy can provide information about treatment-induced changes in tumor biomarkers and help monitor patient response to adjuvant therapy. It is hoped that analysis of biomarkers in serial biopsies w ...

This chapter describes some simple standard operating procedures for the regular collection of samples from surgical resections and their rapid preservation by freezing for long-term cryogenic storage.

A “tumor bank” provides a resource tool that can efficiently address the limitations of other tissue resources, such as clinical archives and research study collections. A tumor bank allows formal accreditation of ethics and security procedures, and through a dedicated management, pr ...

Extracellular membrane vesicles derived from the endosomal compartments and released by the fusion of the multivesicular bodies with the cell membrane are referred as exosomes (Exo) . They function as mediators of intercellular communication and are employed by the organism in the re ...

RNA interference (RNAi) is a powerful approach for silencing oncogenes; however, in vivo RNAi delivery has remained a major challenge due to lack of safe, efficient, and sustained delivery. Here, we describe a novel approach to overcome these limitations using mesoporous silicon particl ...

Lipoproteins are natural nanosized delivery vehicles within the circulatory system of all mammals. Scientists have long been interested in utilizing these endogenous macromolecules to transport exogenous imaging or therapeutic agents to specific cells or tissues in the body. T ...

RNA interference (RNAi) is a naturally occurring, powerful mechanism for gene silencing, based on the cleavage of a given target mRNA. It relies on small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) in the cell. Being similar in structure, microRNAs (miRNAs) are important regulators of gene expression which ma ...

Tumor-specific drug delivery represents a challenging issue that restricts the clinical applications of many advanced anticancer therapeutics. Ovarian cancer exhibits a quite specific pattern of dissemination: it spreads primarily within the peritoneal cavity, providi ...

Syngeneic and transgenic mouse models are important tools for the study of the biology of cancer. While syngeneic mouse models are generated through the implantation in host animals of tumor cells from genetically and immunologically compatible donors, transgenic mouse models are en ...

One of the difficulties in studying ovarian cancer historically has been the lack of a suitable animal model that replicates the human disease. Mouse models that utilize intraperitoneal implantation of tumorigenic cells lack interaction between the transformed ovarian epithel ...

An in vitro syngeneic model of neoplastic progression of murine ovarian surface epithelial (MOSE) cells represents a valid and significant model that allows for investigations into early mechanisms that impact tumorigenesis. Importantly, MOSE cells representing different s ...

Success in in vitro transformation of primary cells from the human ovarian surface epithelium (OSE) has provided significant insight to the study of human ovarian cancer. Here, we describe the method used to immortalize and transform OSE by serial introduction of viral and nonviral genetic ...

Ovarian cancer is a complex disease, with unclear origins, complicated, multistep tumorigenesis, and variable outcomes. As such, generating experimental models to study the disease and treatment efficacies has proven to be extremely challenging. A number of studies have utilized m ...

Ovarian cancer stem cells (OCSCs) are in a transitional phase between epithelial and mesenchymal cell stages. Consequently, OCSCs possess a high degree of plasticity that complicates their identification and characterization. However, we recently demonstrated that the combi ...