Circulating tumor cells for tailoring bmp targeted therapies
Gastro-intestinal (GI) cancers, including gastro-esophageal junctional (GEJC), gastric (GC), colorectal (CRC) and pancreatic cancer (PC) are devastating malignancies that annually affect over 2 million persons worldwide and lead to more than 600,000 deaths (Globocan 2012). Given the current trends, the incidence of GI cancer is expected to increase further. Conventional therapies include chemo- and radiation therapy combined with surgery. However, amongst cancer patients, GI cancer patients have one of the poorest outcomes with a 5-year survival ranging from only 60% for CRC to a mere 5% for PC
At the moment, important steps are being taken to implement the highly specific anti-BMP4 low molecular weight antibodies (Dwarfbodies ®; DB, recently developed by us) in the clinic as a novel treatment strategy for gastro-intestinal (GI) cancers. To enable optimal treatment a diagnostic compendium is required. The CTC4BMP project aims to deliver a blood based method for patient stratification to identify patients that will benefit from the BMP4 inhibiting Dwarfbody therapy.