Prof. Godwin Speaks at Kansas City VA Life Science Seminar

CBM² faculty member Andrew Godwin, Ph.D., spoke on February 18, 2021 at the Kansas City VA Life Science Seminar, hosted by the Kansas City VA Medical Center Research Division and Midwest Biomedical Research Foundation for Veterans. Godwin, who is the Chancellor’s Distinguished Chair in Biomedical Sciences, the Deputy Director of the University of Kansas NCI-Designated Cancer Center, and professor in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of Kansas Cancer Center, gave a talk titled, “Tumor Associated Extracellular Vesicles: Biomarkers for Early Detection and Disease Monitoring.”

In his talk, Dr. Godwin mentioned that the gold standard of cancer diagnosis is pathologic analysis of tumor tissue biopsies. However, recently liquid biopsies, which analyze tumor-derived material circulating in the bloodstream and other bodily fluids, are rapidly gaining traction in the clinic. These tests offer considerable potential in oncology, which include early detection, monitoring treatment response and disease recurrence. Liquid biopsy markers include circulating tumor cells, cell-free DNA, and extracellular vesicles (EVs). Regarding the latter, EVs are showing great promise as circulating biomarkers. Center among EVs are nano-sized vesicles (30 to 150 nm) of endocytic origin also known as small EVs/exosomes, which are produced and released by most cell types under normal physiologic and in diseased states. sEVs carry cargo representative of their originating cell including nucleic acids, cytokines, membrane-bound receptors, and a wide assortment of other, biologically active lipids and proteins. Since sEVs/exosomes travel systemically throughout the body, efforts are underway to exploit them as potential biomarkers to detect and monitor disease states. Ways to exploit sEVs for cancer diagnostics and early detection and the use of miniaturized assays were discussed.