Grant: Proof of Principle Program - Phase I

Some of the most potent cancer-causing genes (oncogenes) produce proteins that reside on the cancer cell surface (membrane). This surface is not rigid, but rather can pinch out of cancer cells and be released to blood, as tiny membrane bubbles (microvesicles), containing cancer-specific proteins. We studied this process in the context of brain tumors (gliomas) and found that a cancer-causing molecule called EGFRvIII is a part of microvesicles found in blood of tumor-bearing mice and patients. Patients whose tumors have EGFRvIII may have a much worse disease than those who do not. We postulate that by testing whether tumor derived bubbles/microvesicles present in the patient's blood contain EGFRvIII or related protein EGFR, it may be possible to know how bad the tumor is, and whether treatment given to patients really works. We will develop an assay that could detect EGFR and EGFRVIII trapped in blood borne microvesicles with a greater accuracy and test this assay in various tumors expressing EGFRvIII or EGFR. We will use surfaces that can capture microvesicles and quantify how much EGFRs they have. This could help monitor and treat patients with brain, breast, colon and various other tumors. No such assay presently exists.