Specific Biomarkers for Detection of Cervical Cancer Cells Using Flow Cytometry

描述（由申请人提供）：宫颈癌是世界范围内发病率和死亡率仅次于乳腺癌的最常见恶性肿瘤。在美国和其他发达国家，巴氏涂片检查和液体细胞学检查已被采纳为全民宫颈癌筛查项目。在美国，这一筛查方案显著降低了宫颈癌的发病率和死亡率，从1941年的26,000例减少到2000年的4600例。然而，目前的宫颈癌筛查方法在从大量的正常细胞中检测出异常细胞时，仍然是主观的、劳动强度大的。本应用提出了一种涉及特异性生物标志物和高通量流式细胞术检测罕见异常细胞的新方法。根据癌前生物标志物的表达水平，将异常细胞捕获并从正常细胞中分离出来。这项技术的发展可能会导致高通量，生物标志物驱动的临床设备用于常规宫颈癌筛查在未来。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Cervical cancer is second to breast cancer as the most common form of malignancy in both incidence and mortality for women worldwide. The pap smear test and liquid-based cytology have been adopted as population-wide cervical cancer screening programs in the U.S. and other developed countries. In the US, this screening program has led to a remarkable reduction in the incidence and mortality rate of cervical cancer, from 26,000 in 1941 to 4,600 in 2000. However, the current method of cervical cancer screening is still subjective and labor intensive in the detection of abnormal cells from large number of normal cells. This application proposes a new approach of involving specific biomarkers and high throughput flow cytometry for the detection of rare abnormal cells. Abnormal cells will be captured and separated from normal cells using flow sorting and based on their expression levels of precancerous biomarkers. The development of this technology could lead to a high throughput, biomarker driven clinical device for routine cervical cancer screening in the future.