In a recently published study in Cancer Biology & Therapy, a group of Penn researchers, including Michael Feldman, MD, used a Penn-developed version of the PathoChip microarray as a proof of principle that this technology can be used to identify pathogens in human disease. The PathoChip test, which contains 60,000 probes for all known viruses, as well as a broad range of bacteria, protozoa, fungi, and helminthes, a parasitic worm, can identify the pathogenic agent in the sample of a patient. The study analyzed preserved tissue samples from a middle-aged male with relapsed acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) who developed an unknown fungal infection following chemotherapy.
Read more in the Department of Communications news release.