Thermo Fisher Scientific and Newman-Lakka Institute Will Collaborate

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., the world leader in serving science, and the Newman-Lakka Institute for Personalized Cancer Care at Floating Hospital for Children at Tufts Medical Center, announced an intended collaboration for research and development of new methods to detect and track circulating biomarkers in blood.

The collaboration will focus on applying Thermo Fisher’s latest ultra-sensitive liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) instrumentation and technology to develop robust methods for identifying protein biomarkers for a variety of cancers, including breast and prostate cancer as well as tumor-associated blood vessel formation.

“Our challenge and hope is to change the current standard of care, and our collaboration with Thermo Fisher and access to its state-of-the-art instrumentation will accelerate our mission. We hope to be able to provide oncologists with a panel of biomarkers that sense microscopic levels of tumor cells with a simple blood test,” said Charles J. Newman, president of the Newman-Lakka Cancer Foundation. “The goal is to develop diagnostic tools to make it possible for physicians to check off a panel of biomarkers when patients get regular checkups, so early detection of disease can facilitate effective treatment. Also, the goal is to enable oncologists to monitor the efficacy of treatment with a blood test, rather than waiting 2 months for an MRI and exposing the patients to additional harmful radiation.”

“We’re extremely pleased about this opportunity to collaborate with experts in the search for better cancer treatments,” said Mary Lopez, director of the Thermo Fisher Scientific Biomarkers Research Initiatives in Mass Spectrometry (BRIMS) center that is supporting the collaboration. “We anticipate great synergy between Newman-Lakka’s cancer research expertise and our own strength in applying mass spectrometry to biological research and the advancement of personalized medicine will give greater value to both organizations.”

An instrument will be installed at the Genesis Research Institute laboratory adjacent to the Newman Lakka Institute at Tufts Medical Center. The collaboration’s advanced methods will be conducted at the BRIMS center in Cambridge, Mass., using Thermo Scientific’s triple quadrupole and high resolution accurate mass (HRAM) spectrometry instrumentation, coupled to mass spectrometry immunoassay (MSIA) technology and novel software workflows.