Professor Sun Young Lee (Dept. of Radiation Oncology, School of Medicine, Chonbuk National University) has conducted joint research on the isolation of blood tumor cells with researchers in Hungary, and recently published the study results under the title of “Technologies for Circulating Tumor Cell Separation from Whole Blood” in the Journal of Hematology & Oncology, one of the SCI journals on tumors.

The study suggests a standardization method for rapidly changing diagnostic techniques worldwide for cancer cells present in the blood of cancer patients. Since there were no articles previously on methodological aspects, accuracy, and standardization techniques for the cancer cells present in the blood of cancer patients, the research results can be widely used by researchers, cancer specialists, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology companies.

“This technology can not only predict cancer metastasis by finding cancer cells in blood, but also contribute greatly to the development of cancer treatment by prescribing patient-specific anticancer drugs through mutation studies of cancer cells, and identifying cancer mechanism by comparative study of cancer cells in blood with primary carcinoma cells,” said Prof. Lee.

“Through further international collaboration, we will conduct research on the PDX mouse model to develop an anticancer drug of the mutant gene obtained through the CTC (circulating tumor cells) study.

The research is one of the studies on the ‘development and utilization of female cancer markers through analysis of cancer genome in blood’ supported by the Korean Ministry of Science & ICT. It was made possible with the participation of Petra Bankó (Dept. of Biochemical Engineering, Budapest University of Technology and Economics), Sun Young Lee (Dept. of Radiation Oncology, Chonbuk National University Hospital), Viola Nagygyörgy (Celldi Kft), Miklós Zrínyi (Laboratory of Nanochemistry, Dept. of Biophysics & Radiation Biology, Semmelweis University), Chang Hoon Chae (Lab of Nanochemistry, Dept. of Biophysics and Radiation Biology, SU), Dong Hyu Cho (Dept. of Obstetrics and Gynecology, CBNU Hospital) and András Telekes (Depr. of Oncology, St. Lazarus Hospital).

Prof. Lee has published an analysis of the genetic propensity of circulating cancer cells in peripheral blood in patients with Ewing Sarcoma of the uterus in the SCIE journal Experimental and Therapeutic Medicine.