Media Release

Karkala, Oct 19: A one day workshop on Digital Droplet Third Generation PCR in clinical applications was recently held at Nitte University Centre for Science Education and Research.

Prof Indrani Karunasagar, director- R & D, welcomed the gathering and highlighted the urgent need to be aware of the latest advances world over in rapid diagnostics.

The workshop was inaugurated by the chief guest, Dr Krishna Prasad, chief medical oncologist, Mangalore Institute of Oncology. He recognized and appreciated the need for this advanced technique as we do not have it in the coastal belt of Goa, Karnataka and north Kerala and explained how it would benefit those suffering from this condition. If detected early through non invasive method like Liquid biopsy it would make the suffering less and also help in prognosis to monitor the treatment effect.

Prof Dr P S Prakash, dean of K S Hegde Medical Academy and Prof Dr U S Krishna Nayak, dean, A B Shetty Memorial Institute of Dental Sciences were the guests of honour.

Prof Iddya Karunasagar, senior director - International Relations was the president of the function. He spoke of the tremendous potential the ddPCR technique holds and its application in infectious and non-infectious conditions. He enlightened the audience on the fact that this technique has been approved by the FDA of USA for cancer diagnosis. This workshop brought together all clinicians to see the applications of the technique in several diseases with a focus on cancer prognosis.

Prof Anirban Chakraborty, head of cancer biology, NUCSER, Dr Vijayarangan, application specialist, BioRad and Dr Rajesh, pulmonologist, KSHEMA were the resource persons for the workshop. The workshop was led by Dr Anirban Chakraborty with practical demonstration of the technique by him and colleagues including research scholars.

PCR, the highly sensitive DNA based molecular technique is compared to finding a needle in a haystack. It involves the identification of minute quantity of genes / nucleotides of interest and has become a household name in the field of diagnostics. Though first discovered in 1985, there has been no looking back on advancing it towards improved quantitation. The second generation PCR also called quantitative PCR (qPCR) or Real Time PCR (RT-PCR) has become a gold standard for identifying copy numbers. The third generation PCR also called Digital Droplet PCR or ddPCR is a very powerful technique discovered very recently. If there is a test that is easier on patients and faster for doctors, the third generation PCR is the answer. It has several application but its role in early detection of cancer and monitoring the sensitivity/ resistance to treatment is noteworthy. While it is well known that biopsy is a sample of tissue or cells taken from almost any part of the body with tumour and sent to the lab, ddPCR uses noninvasive method and examines the blood, hence called liquid biopsy. The early detection of cancer by examining blood for
circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) is very fast, reliable and non-invasive as compared to other methods hitherto available. The ctDNA are tiny fragments of DNA in the blood that break away from tumours. After treatment, the levels may decrease because the tumour has become small or has been removed.

Researchers monitor ctDNA levels and keep watching carefully before visibly seeing a recurrence. The ctDNA also helps monitor an advanced cancer for genetic changes that might influence treatment such
as a mutation conferring resistance. In the early stages of the development a few years ago, researchers standardized the technique by taking a biopsy of the tumour and also the blood for ctDNA to get a comprehensive picture of the cancer genetics.

Today, by screening a blood test and looking at ctDNA, one can screen a sample with confidence. Liquid biopsy is an extremely useful technology to use to test a patient at the very early stages. However, the future holds promise in being able to find cancer in someone with no signs of it at present and to be able to determine where that cancer is in the body. So the key in the discovery process is not only finding the cancer cell or the mutated DNA fragment circulating, but also to find if that cancer is going to be a challenge to treat. Nitte deemed to be university is one of the very few centres in the country having this facility. Liquid biopsy holds promise for all of this and more says a press release from the director of Research, Nitte (deemed to be university).