Synopses & Reviews
Advances in diagnostic technology during the past several years have significantly enhanced our ability to detect human cancers in the very early stages of tumor formation. In Cancer Diagnostics: Current and Future Trends, high-profile laboratory scientists and basic cancer researchers review those recent and emerging clinical laboratory tests that can help in the early detection, evaluation, and prediction of human tumors, and so permit more informed therapeutic decisions. Emphasizing the importance of molecular and genetic RNA/DNA tests that can detect persons at high risk for specific cancers, the authors explore these novel serological assays, cellular assays useful for anatomic pathology, and molecular and genetic assays. Highlights include a profile of genetic tests for the diagnosis of colon, lung, and pancreatic cancers and a discussion of the molecular microsatellite instability that is observed in many cancers and permits the diagnosis of particular cancers. Informative and state-of-the-art, Cancer Diagnostics: Current and Future Trends thoroughly treats the best current methods for cancer diagnosis and monitoring, and points to a future in which early diagnosis and detection of cancer will become a reality.
Synopsis
In the past, many tumor marker laboratory tests have not been sensitive enough for the very early detection of cancer. However, many of them have nonetheless proved useful in monitoring therapy, following the course of the tumor, and predicting prog- nosis. Today, cancer may be viewed as a genetic disease with various specific chromo- somal and nucleotide aberrations, such as mutations, deletions, gene amplification, gene rearrangements, and translocations occurring during the transformation of a nor- mal cell into a malignant cell. The considerable advances in technology during the past several years have greatly enhanced our ability to detect human cancers in the very early stages of tumor forma- tion. These technologies include: (1) nucleotide molecular assays (genomics); (2) proteomics (multiplex protein measurements); (3) DNA microarrays; and (4) bio- informatics. Many of these technologies are already helping in the integration and use of multiple biomarkers for tumors. Although the individual biomarkers may reveal only limited information, the use of multiple biomarkers can help markedly elevate the diagnostic capabilities for early detection of tumors.
Synopsis
High-profile laboratory scientists and basic cancer researchers review those recent and future clinical laboratory tests that can help in the early detection, evaluation, and prediction of human tumors, and so permit more informed therapeutic decisions. Emphasizing the importance of molecular and genetic RNA/DNA tests that can detect persons at high risk for specific cancers, the authors explore these novel serological assays, cellular assays useful for anatomic pathology, and molecular and genetic assays. Highlights include a profile of genetic tests for the diagnosis of colon, lung, and pancreatic cancers and a discussion of the molecular microsatellite instability that is observed in many cancers and permits the diagnosis of particular cancers. Informative and state-of-the-art, Cancer Diagnostics: Current and Future Trends illuminates coming future developments and tests for cancer diagnosis and monitoring, and make clear that early diagnosis and detection of cancer will become a reality in the future.
Table of Contents
Part I: Introduction
General Considerations in the Use and Application of Laboratory Tests for the Evaluation of Cancer
Robert M. Nakamura and Wayne W. Grody
New Insights and Future Advances in Cancer Diagnostics: Limitations of Conventional Tumor Markers
Yasushi Kasahara and Yutaka Tsukada
The Changing Role of the Pathologist in the Management of the Cancer Patient
Raymond B. Nagle
Part II: Serological Tumor Markers
Types of Circulating Tumor Markers and Their Clinical Applications
James T. Wu
Identification of Risk Factors for Early Neoplasm
James T. Wu
Emerging Circulating Tumor Markers
James T. Wu
Prostate Cancer Markers: From Discovery to the Clinic
Judith A. Finlay, Stephen D. Mikolajczyk, Thomas M. Pribyl, R. Bruce Wallace, and Harry G. Rittenhouse
Serum Tumor Marker Test Profile in Testicular Germ-Cell Tumors
Frank J. Liu, Robert M. Nakamura, C. Howard Tseng, and Kevin S. Liu
Autoantibodies, Autoimmunity, and Cancers: Markers for Identification of Early Stages of Tumors
Robert M. Nakamura and Eng M. Tan
Part III: Cellular Tumor Markers. MHC Tetramers: A Tool for Direct Ex Vivo Detection and Enumeration of Tumor-Specific Cytotoxic T Lymphocytes
Jennie C. C. Chang, Ferdynand Kos, Charles T. Nugent, and Kristine Kuus-Reichel
New Applications of Flow Cytometry in Cancer Diagnosis and Therapy
Sophie Song and Faramarz Naeim
Molecular Diagnostics in Neoplastic Hematopathology
Daniel A. Arber
HER2 and Topoisomerase IIa in Breast Carcinoma
Kenneth J. Bloom
Study of Sentinel Lymph Nodes in the Staging of Malignant Neoplasms
Alice A. Roberts and Alistair J. Cochran
A Marker for Early Diagnosis of Lung Cancer: The Heterogeneous Nuclear Ribonucleoprotein A2/B1 (hnRNP A2/B1)
Jordi Tauler, Alfredo Martínez, and James L. Mulshine
Part IV: Molecular and Genetic Tumor Markers
Molecular Techniques in Cancer Diagnosis and Management
Jeffrey S. Ross, Karen Gray, Rebecca Mosher, and James Stec
DNA Repair Defects in Cancer
Ramune Reliene and Robert H. Schiestl
Chromosomal and Molecular Cytogenetic Assays for Evaluation of Human Tumors
Peter C. Hu, Vicki L. Hopwood, and Armand B. Glassman
Microsatellite Alterations as Diagnostic and Prognostic Markers in Patients With Cancer
Bret Taback and Dave S. B. Hoon
Recent Advances in Molecular Classification and Prognosis of Colorectal Cancer
Tsung-Teh Wu and Asif Rashid
Genetic Counseling for Hereditary Cancer Predisposition Testing
Joyce L. Seldon and Patricia A. Ganz
Diagnosis of Ataxia-Telangiectasia: ATM Mutations Associated With Cancer
Midori Mitsui, Shareef A. Nahas, Helen H. Chun, and Richard A. Gatti
Index