Hunting for cancer stem cells

Jeff Allen, who is developing a cancer diagnostic chip similar to this one, poses for a picture in Nick Cosford's research lab at the Sanford Burnham Medical Research Institute. The chip Allen is developing would isolate cancer stem cells for diagnosis.

After Jeff Allens wife died of cancer in 2002, the analytical biochemist put his training to work in learning more about the disease.

Doing so was initially a hobby, he said. As time progressed, it became more than a hobby. It became a downright obsession. I got angry at cancer, and as the years went, by I became frustrated with the slow pace of developing new weapons against it.

Allen, whose background includes development of molecular diagnostic devices, began studying how cancer treatment could be improved.

Now he and his sons, Alexander and Austin, said theyve designed a device that can detect the most dangerous cancer cells, often called cancer stem cells. The device is still in the concept phase, but scientists who have looked at the technology think its feasible.

The device is envisioned as a microchip that examines a patients blood sample to identify and isolate cancer stem cells. Once captured, these cells would be genetically sequenced to find the mutations driving the cancer. Then doctors could prescribe the most customized treatment based on this more rigorous analysis.

To carry out his plan, Allen is seeking $50,000 through the crowdfunding site gofundme.com. He also has formed a company, TumorGen MDx.

In the world of oncology, theres increasing but not total recognition of cancer stem cells and their destructive role. Allen said his own reading of the literature is that these cells do indeed exist. They possess distinct characteristics that enable them to seed an entire new tumor from just a few cells, or perhaps only one.

That theory carries tremendous significance for accurate diagnosis. A drug that inhibits most cancer cells but misses the cancer stem cells wont do much good.

Jeff Allen's video promoting his work for a test to detect cancer stem cells.

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Hunting for cancer stem cells