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Dissociated Tumor & Tissue Cells (DTCs)

Accelerate your oncology programs with our biomarker
characterized dissociated tumor cells.

Discovery Life Sciences’ experts were the first to develop cryopreserved tissue dissociations to speed cancer research.

We provide our DTCs as a convenient alternative to fresh tissue, eliminating the logistical challenges, cost, and delays of acquiring and processing fresh clinical samples.

Why Choose Discovery's DTCs?

An ideal alternative to fresh tissues without the associated logistical challenges

Mimics the tumor micro environment by including tumor, immune and stromal cells

High cell viability pre-freeze and post-thaw

Characterization Included on All DTCs:

Characterization Included on a Subset of DTCs:

Building a Targeted Cohort?

We can further characterize any DTCs samples via multi-omic biomarker services upon request to optimized your study cohorts for your biomarker targets.

DTCs Related Matched Sets

Our Discovery Partners® network allows for large-scale, prospective collections of high-quality matched sample sets of human biospecimens.

Each dissociated tumor cell matched sample set is provided with the base clinical data from the patient case, along with cell population analysis and HLA-A02 typing by flow cytometry.

Our scientific team has the knowledge and technical capacity to meet custom requirements and offer laboratory services for matched sample set projects.

DTCs & Set Report

1000+

UNIQUE PATIENT CASES AVAILABLE

This report includes cell population analysis and HLA-A02 typing by flow cytometry.
Mutation/biomarker tested patient samples are listed on a separate tab.

DTCs & PBMCs

300+

UNIQUE PATIENT CASES AVAILABLE

This report includes cell population analysis and HLA-A02 typing of the DTCs by flow cytometry.
Mutation/biomarker tested patient samples (PD-L1, MSI, MMR, BRAF, EGFR, KRAS, and NRAS) are listed on a separate tab within the report.

DTCs & FFPE

50+

UNIQUE PATIENT CASES AVAILABLE

This report includes cell population analysis and HLA-A02 typing of the DTCs by flow cytometry.
Mutation/biomarker tested patient samples (PD-L1, MSI, MMR, BRAF, EGFR, KRAS, and NRAS) are listed on a separate tab within the report.

DTCs & PBMCs + FFPE

10+

UNIQUE PATIENT CASES AVAILABLE

This report includes cell population analysis and HLA-A02 typing of the DTCs by flow cytometry.
Mutation/biomarker tested patient samples (PD-L1, MSI, MMR, BRAF, EGFR, KRAS, and NRAS) are listed on a separate tab within the report.

Our global clinical site network of Discovery Partners® allows for large-scale, prospective collections of high-quality matched sample sets of human biospecimens.

Each dissociated tumor cell matched sample set is provided with the base clinical data from the patient case, along with cell population analysis and HLA-A02 typing by flow cytometry.

Our scientific team has the knowledge and technical capacity to meet custom requirements and offer laboratory services for matched sample set projects.

In-Depth Characterization of Your Biospecimens

Get biospecimens in the format you need – then characterize them with Discovery’s customizable and scalable biomarker services based on advanced technologies, including genomics, proteomics, molecular pathology, and cell biology services.

DTCs Featured Resources

Whitepaper

DTCs Application: Checkpoint Inhibitor Therapy Utilization and PD1/PDL1 Expression across a Global Clinical Network Whitepapers

Protocols

View the standard process for thawing viable cell products from cryopreserved dissociated cell suspensions for optimal post-thaw yield. Protocols

Webinars & Videos

Watch a webinar on deep multi-omic phenotyping of biospecimens for immuno-oncology applications.Webinars & Videos

Publications

Read in Nature Communications how Discovery’s DTCs were used to understand response to immunotherapy in non-small cell lung cancer Publications

DTCs Frequently Asked Questions

Following surgical resection, tumors are placed in a proprietary tissue storage solution and shipped in a NanoCool™ Cooling System to Discovery’s expert Custom Biospecimen Processing Laboratory. Upon receipt, tumors are minced into small pieces and undergo a proprietary mechanical and enzymatic digestion to the single cell level. This digestion takes approximately 1 hour. Following digestion, cells are washed and cryopreserved.

Dead cells or debris removal is not performed, as previous attempts at these protocols have only provided modest reductions in the number of dead cells or amount of debris while negatively impacting cellular yields and composition.

DTCs are cryopreserved in CryoStor© CS10.

DTCs are shipped on dry ice. Upon receipt, they should be used immediately or placed in liquid nitrogen vapor phase for long term storage.

Cell counts and viability are determined using a Nexcelom Cellometer® with acridine orange and propidium iodide to identify live and dead nucleated cells, respectively, per the recommendations provided by Nexcelom. Given the cellular debris that can be present, we do not recommend the use of trypan blue-based cell counting methods, as this will overestimate the number of dead cells.

We have profiled the sensitivity of numerous cell surface markers to the enzymatic cocktail used to dissociate tumors. For inquiries on specific markers, please contact info@dls.com.

Yes, we are able to test receptor sensitivity using samples with known expression, such as PBMCs or cell lines. For more information, please contact info@dls.com.

Yes, modified dissociation protocols are available that may maintain the expression of sensitive cell surface markers. While expression is preserved, the overall viability of the sample may be negatively impacted. For more information, please contact info@dls.com.

For short term cultures using DTCs, we recommend using ultra-low attachment plates, such as Corning™ Costar™ Ultra-Low Attachment Microplates. Conventional tissue culture-treated plates should be avoided. Serum-free media is also recommended, and we highly recommend using penicillin, streptomycin, gentamicin, primocin, and amphotericin B to limit bacterial and fungal growth, as sterility cannot be guaranteed. For more information, please contact info@dls.com.

Yes, we have validated dissociations of certain normal tissue, including lung and colon. Autoimmune dissociated tissues are also available, including Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. For more information, please tell us more about your project.

Red blood cell lysis is not performed.

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