Applied Biosystems aids breakthrough in cancer research

New technology from Applied Biosystems has been used by researchers in the Netherlands to advance their work on testicular cancer.

Enabling the scientists to identify different expression patterns of microRNA molecules in normal and cancerous cells, the technology has helped provide fresh information about the unique cellular events that lead to the disease.

The study by the group at the Erasmus MC-University medical centre in Rotterdam will be published in the November issue of the Journal of Pathology.

It could potentially lead to earlier identification of testicular tumours and new approaches for treating them.

"These findings have provided us with a new level of information for understanding the biology of cancer and these will also be applicable to breast, lung, colon and other cancers," commented Professor Leendert Looijenga, group leader in the department of pathology at the Erasmus Medical Centre.

"The contribution from Applied Biosystems in this study was particularly important in helping us to interpret our findings in the relevant biological context," the professor added.

Medical experts have pointed out that although testicular cancer is relatively rare in the general population, it is the most common cancer in men between the ages of 15 and 44 years old.