STRP

The key to eliminating the personal and financial costs of cancer lies in the early detection of disease. Early detection is a critical public health strategy because it improves disease outcomes, but efforts to identify biomarkers for colorectal cancer to classify the potential of polyps removed during colonoscopies as either cancer adjacent polyps (CAPs) or cancer-free polyps (CFPs) in a manner contemporaneous with the polypectomy have not been successful. Dr. Dennis and team are working on a rapid quantitative polymerase chain reaction test (qPCR) by developing a chromatin sensitive assay and mapping the sensitivity of complex, multicellular genomes to varying concentrations of micrococcal nuclease to study the qPCR test. Dr. Dennisb’s team are further developing the novel measurement of chromatin sensitivity to predict oncogenic potential of neoplastic tissue, including 1) developing target primer-probe sets, 2) developing a streamlines process for preparation of MNase digested resected colorectal cancer (CRC) polyps that are ready for qPCR testing, and 3) developing foundational technology for a rapid qPCR-based test for the earliest possible detection of colorectal carcinoma from polyps classified as benign. This STRP work leverages fundamental principles of the Dennis teamb’s labor-intensive and expensive next generation sequencing chromatin sensitivity assay to develop target primer-probe sets for a streamlined, rapid, and cost-effective qPCR diagnostic assay that can translate to the commercial marketplace.