Analysis of single cancer cells may allow for highly individualized cancer therapy, according to a new paper in Nature Communications published by researchers at the University of Illinois Chicago led by University of Illinois Cancer Center member Elizaveta Benevolenskaya.
Using tissues from patients who underwent cancer surgery, the researchers have shown that individual cancer cells reveal information about potential tumor responses to therapies that can help physicians prescribe more effective, targeted cancer treatment.
Tumors are not made up of a homogenous mix of cells, explained Benevolenskaya, professor of biochemistry and molecular genetics at UIC and corresponding author on the paper.