Timothy Yap

About Timothy Yap

Technical advances have led to the identification and isolation of CTCs (Circulating Tumor Cells) from prostate cancer patients’ blood. Recent data have suggested that it is possible to use CTC counts and their molecular characteristics to monitor patients’ response to therapy and to guide their management; this may expedite the administration of active drugs, decrease toxicity and optimize resource utilization, without adversely impacting the survival of patients. Dr. Yap plans to conduct a clinical trial in castration-resistant, chemotherapy-naive prostate cancer patients, in which individual patient management is guided by CTCs. He plans to molecularly characterize and sequence genes of individual CTCs and circulating plasma nucleic acids from these patients to study the association of certain subtypes of prostate cancer with drug sensitivity and resistance. If successful, this has the potential to impact patient benefit by individualizing therapy and to accelerate antitumor drug development.