Applied DNA’s proprietary CAM technology captures circulating tumor cells by harnessing the very mechanism by which metastatic tumor cells invade surrounding tissue.

Studies show that one in two men and one in three women will develop cancer sometime in their lives. A landmark feature of malignant tumors is their ability to spread through the blood- stream to secondary sites. It is this spread, or metastasis, which causes 90% of cancer deaths, yet current cancer treatment is mainly focused on monitoring shrinkage of primary tumors. Current diagnostic methods are unable to adequately characterize the state of metastasis or to determine the effectiveness of cancer drugs on the metastatic process.

Applied DNA’s proprietary Cell Adhesion Matrix (CAM) technology enables isolation and culture of invasive circulating tumor cells (iCTCs) from the blood of patients with aggressive cancer by harnessing the very mechanism by which metastatic cells from tumors invade surrounding tissue, enter the blood stream and spread throughout the patient’s body. Tumor cells with metastatic potential attach to and digest CAM proteins that make up the tissue adjacent to tumors. Applied DNA’s process utilizes this characteristic to attract these cells to a proprietary CAM surface coating that captures those tumor cells with invasive and metastatic potential. Applied DNA’s CAM technology captures and recovers specific rare cells in blood, including iCTCs, endothelial, fetal and immune progenitor cells.