Revolutionizing Head and Neck Cancer Treatment: ANGLE Technology Sheds Light on Personalized Care

 

ANGLE technology could help provide a more targeted approach to head and neck cancer

ANGLE PLC (AIM:AGL, OTCQX:ANPCY) has released groundbreaking research findings that promise to revolutionize the treatment of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), an aggressive form of cancer. Researchers from the University of Birmingham harnessed ANGLE's Parsortix system to examine circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in HNSCC patients. These CTCs, which circulate in the bloodstream, often contribute to cancer's spread.

The Parsortix system allowed the evaluation of 41 vital biological markers, including immune system "checkpoint" proteins. Understanding these markers can aid in tailoring treatment plans for individual patients. The scientists employed mass cytometry, a technique enabling a thorough analysis of individual cells, to gain insights into the characteristics and diversity of CTCs in HNSCC patients.

HNSCC represents a significant global health concern, with over 900,000 new cases diagnosed annually, resulting in an economic burden of over US$40 billion.

The research findings offer the potential for more precise treatment strategies and real-time monitoring of treatment effectiveness. Furthermore, the University of Birmingham's work paves the way for the development of new biological markers to identify patients who may benefit from specific immune-based therapies.

Dr. Karl Payne, the principal investigator, noted, "Our work is the first to employ cell suspension mass cytometry to characterize CTCs. This protocol enables the measurement of critical intracellular cell signaling proteins' phenotype and activation status in CTCs and peripheral blood immune cells. By facilitating high-dimensional single-cell CTC data collection from patients across multiple research sites, we believe our method will expedite clinical study recruitment and robust CTC analysis in rare cancers."