Synopses & Reviews
The growing tide of novel therapeutics that target molecules within a specific individual's cancer cells-over 300 such agents are currently in phase I or II clinical trials-makes it essential to employ appropriate diagnostic methods and approaches when selecting patients for treatment. In Molecular Diagnosis of Cancer: Methods and Protocols, a panel of leading international experts in molecular diagnostic medicine present a diverse collection of readily reproducible methods, derived from their own research for cancer detection. Highlights include FISH-based methodologies currently used in the diagnosis of solid tumors, the molecular diagnosis of genetic abnormalities by DNA array technologies-including sequence-specific oligonucleotide arrays and CGH arrays-and methodologies directed at the detection of epigenetic events and at quantitative gene expression. The authors apply these novel diagnostic procedures to a broad range of cases taken from cytology, solid tumor pathology, hematology, and rare cell detection, paying special attention to potential future developments and the practical problems of dealing with quality control and accuracy. The protocols presented follow the successful Methods in Molecular Medicine™ series format, each one offering step-by-step laboratory instructions, an introduction outlining the principle behind the technique, lists of equipment and reagents, and tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Cutting-edge and highly practical, Molecular Diagnosis of Cancer: Methods and Protocols offers pathologists providing molecular diagnostic services and researchers seeking molecularly targeted therapeutic approaches a broad array of today's most powerful methods and techniques.
Review
"...concise and uniformly well written...contains a large compilation of applications of nucleic acid technologies that are in use or may be in use in the near future to diagnose and aid in the management of malignant diseases." - Doody's Health Sciences Book Review Journal Review of the First Edition The techniques described here are standard laboratory lore;the added value are the notes and tips on tricky details andoften overlooked precautions....Laboratory scientists...will get their money's worth. -Modern Pathology "....a diverse collection of readily reproducible methods...the protocols presented follow step-by-step laboratory instructions, an introduction outlining the principle behind the technique, lists of equipment and reagents, and tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls." - Tumori From the reviews of the second edition: "Dramatic advances in molecular biology over the past decades have led to an unprecedented understanding of cancer at a very detailed molecular level. ... tips on troubleshooting are presented in each chapter, written by experts in the field. Given the amount of detail incorporated in each protocol, these should be readily reproducible and enable laboratories with no prior experience in a specific technique to master it and be able to use todays most powerful techniques in the molecular diagnosis of cancer." (Janis Racevskis, Medical Oncology, Vol. 22 (3), 2004)
Synopsis
A diverse collection of readily reproducible methods for use in cancer detection. Highlights include FISH-based methodologies currently used in the diagnosis of solid tumors, the molecular diagnosis of genetic abnormalities by DNA array technologies-including sequence-specific oligonucleotide arrays and CGH arrays-and methodologies directed at the detection of epigenetic events and at quantitative gene expression. The authors apply these novel diagnostic procedures to a broad range of cases taken from cytology, solid tumor pathology, hematology, and rare cell detection, paying special attention to potential future developments and the practical problems of dealing with quality control and accuracy.
Synopsis
We are currently experiencing a fundamental shift in the way in which we approach the characterization of cancer. Never before has the make up of cancer tissues and individual cells been so exhaustively researched and char- terized. We are now capable of producing molecular fingerprints that ch- acterize the expression of all known and unknown genes within tumors and their surrounding tissues. More than 30,000 different genes may be measured in each patient s tumor in a single experiment. Simultaneously, novel therapies that exploit the molecular roadmap have been developed and are now being offered to patients. These novel agents, such as Glivec, Herceptin, Iressa, and others, specifically target individual genes within tumors and can produce d- matic responses in some patients. These drugs are only the forerunners of a coming tidal wave of novel therapeutics that individually target specific m- ecules within cancer cells more than 300 such agents are currently in phase I or II clinical trials. This is an exciting time for cancer specialists and patients alike. However, if we have learned anything from the past 50 or more years of research into cancer, it is that Lord Beaverbrook, in founding the British national health service in the 1950s, was frighteningly prescient when he defined the primary goal of health care to be Diagnosis, Diagnosis, Diag- sis. Now, more than ever, it is essential that appropriate diagnostic methods and approaches are applied to the selection of patients for treatment."
Table of Contents
Prognostic and Predictive Factors Michael Scott and Peter A. Hall Assessment of Predictive Values of Tumor Markers Joseph E. Roulston Quality Assurance of Predictive Markers in Breast Cancer Anthony Rhodes and Diana M. Barnes Extraction of Nucleic Acid Templates John M. S. Bartlett and Helen Speirs Microdissection and Extraction of DNA From Archival Tissue Joanne Edwards, James J. Going, and John M. S. Bartlett Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization: Technical Overview John M. S. Bartlett HER2 FISH in Breast Cancer John M. S. Bartlett and Amanda Forsyth Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization for BCR-ABL Mark W. Drummond, Elaine K. Allan, Andrew Pearce, and Tessa L. Holyoake UroVysion™ Multiprobe FISH in Urinary Cytology Lukas Bubendorf and Bruno Grilli Chromogenic In Situ Hybridization in Tumor Pathology Jorma Isola and Minna Tanner Comparative Genomic Hybridization and Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Marie Jarosova Molecular Characterization of Human Papillomaviruses by PCR and In Situ Hybridization Suzanne D. Vernon and Elizabeth R. Unger A Nested RT-PCR Assay to Detect BCR/abl Linda M. Wasserman TP53 Mutation Detection by SSCP and Sequencing Jenni Hakkarainen, Judith A. Welsh, and Kirsi H. Vähäkangas PCR Diagnosis of T-Cell Lymphoma in Paraffin-Embedded Bone Marrow Biopsies Jean Benhattar and Sandra Gebhard Circulating DNA Analysis: Protocols and Clinical Applications Using Taqman Assays Kwan-Chee Allen Chan and Yuk-Ming Dennis Lo Microsatellite Instability: Theory and Methods Gillian Gifford and Robert Brown The Diagnostic and Prognostic Significance of the Methylation Status of Myf-3 in Lymphoproliferative Disorders Jeremy M. E. Taylor, Peter H. Kay, and Dominic V. Spagnolo Quantitative Analysis of PRAME for Detection of Minimal Residual Disease in Leukemia Maiko Matsushita, Rie Yamazaki, and Yutaka Kawakami Determination of Cyclin D1 Expression by Quantitative Real-Time, Reverse-Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction Karen E. Bijwaard and Jack H. Lichy Detection of Telomerase hTERT Gene Expression and Its Splice Variants by RT-PCR W. Nicol Keith and Stacey F. Hoare Detection of Telomerase Enzyme Activity by TRAP Assay W. Nicol Keith and Aileen J. Monaghan Identification of TP53 Mutations in Human Cancers Using Oligonucleotide Microarrays Wen-Hsiang Wen and Michael F. Press Detection of K-ras Mutations by a Microelectronic DNA Chip Evelyne Lopez-Crapez, Thierry Livache, Patrice Caillat, and Daniela Zsoldos Microarray-Based CGH in Cancer Ekaterina Pestova, Kim Wilber, and Walter King Tissue Microarrays Ronald Simon, Martina Mirlacher, Guido Sauter Index