Koninklijke Philips Corporation N.v.

Koninklike Philips N.v.

Freek Van Hemert

Reinhold Wimberger-Friedl

Anja Van De Stolpe

Menno Willem Jose Prins

Arie R Van Doorn

Mikhail Mikhaylovich Ovsyanko

David Halter

Geeske Christina Dam-De Veen

Johannes Adrianus Van Tooren

A method for stratification of a patient for assessing suitability of a therapy for the patient suffering from an ER (estrogen receptor) and/or PR (progesterone receptor) positive and HER2 (human epidermal growth factor receptor 2) negative cancer, the therapy being directed towards a signaling pathway, includes: (i) determining an activation status of an ER and/or PR signaling pathway by applying a Proximity Ligation Assay to detect in a tissue sample of the patient a presence of at least one member of the ER family, the at least one member being part of a transcription factor complex, and at least one protein selected from a group consisting of TAFs (TATA-binding protein associated factor), TBP (TATA-box binding protein), POLII (RNA polymerase II), TFII (transcription factor H), p300, CREB (cyclic-AMP response element-binding protein), and CBP (CREB binding protein), wherein the at least one protein is part of the same transcription factor complex.

Stratification of patients for assessing the suitability of a therapy

A cartridge and an associated apparatus for preparing a biological sample includes a reaction chamber configured to be closed by a substrate carrying the biological sample, where the reaction chamber is connected to a fluidic inlet system and a fluidic outlet system. When the substrate closes the reaction chamber, the fluidic inlet system, the reaction chamber, and the fluidic outlet system constitute a fluidic system that is closed to an environment outside the cartridge with respect to an exchange of liquids. Further, a pressure-driven flow through the reaction chamber may be induced by actuation of deformable membranes formed in the cartridge.

Cartridge and apparatus for preparing a biological sample

A filter element and method for retaining particles of a medium, for example rare cells of blood. The filter element includes at least one opening that has an elongate cross section and/or a cross section that decreases in a flow direction. The filter element may be bordered by a transparent wall. The filter element may be provided with a plurality of elongate openings of a stepwise decreasing cross section that are arranged on a common transparent slide. The filter element permits high flow rates to be realized throughout the filtering process and the retained particles are immediately ready for visual inspection without a need for a further transfer.

Filtering particles from blood or other media

The present invention relates to a method for processing isolated cells, in particular rare cells such as circulating tumor cells, to render them suitable for optical imaging, comprising the steps of (a) depositing filter material comprising captured cells on a phase-change medium; (b) melting said phase-change medium until the medium is spread out below said filter material; and (c) lowering the temperature of said phase-change medium until the medium solidifies, resulting in an optically flat filter comprising said cells at a fixed position. The method may additionally comprise an initial step of capturing a cell on a filter material. The phase-change medium, preferably paraffin wax, may comprise a porous, or mesh-like structure allowing the passage of a fluid through the medium. The phase-change medium may further be mounted on a carrier such as a glass carrier or a polymer material carrier. The present invention further relates to processed filter material comprising isolated cells suitable for optical imaging, which is obtainable by the method; the use of such filter material for diagnostic, histological, microbiological, biochemical, oncologic, or hematologic analysis, as well as a device for isolating cells or processing cells to render them suitable for optical imaging.

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Dordrecht, Netherlands

Freek Van Hemert