Flow Cytometry

The Flow Cytometry Core Laboratory Shared Resource provides access to state-of-the-art flow cytometry and related technologies to researchers at The University of Kansas Cancer Center and other area institutions. This shared resource provides researchers with sophisticated methods for the analysis and preparative sorting of both normal and tumor cells.

Flow cytometry helps researchers to measure apoptosis, gene expression, drug metabolism, immune responses and pathways of cellular activation, both normal and tumor-related. This helps scientists understand cancer better, develop possible new treatments, and can be used to detect the presence and extent of cancer.

The shared resource maintains instruments, computer workstations for data analysis and related equipment to support researchers in a wide variety of cancer-related research projects. If preferred, the shared resource can perform all steps of flow cytometry experiments, beginning at sample preparation, for investigators. Learn more about the University of Kansas Medical Center’s Flow Cytometry Core Laboratory.

View Flow Cytometry brochure.

Targeting AKT in renal cell carcinoma infiltrating lymphocytes to generate memory T cells for adoptive cell transfer

T cell immunotherapy involves taking T cells out of patients, activating them in culture to enhance their cancer-killing ability and reinfusing them into patients. Researchers are still looking for the optimal method to activate the T cells.

The University of Kansas Cancer Center researchers are performing studies to determine whether they can find ways to better activate the T cells to be better killers of renal cell carcinoma. These researchers are expanding tumor reactive T cells in vitro from the renal cell carcinoma microenvironment in various conditions to promote the best cancer-killing T cells. The Flow Cytometry Core Laboratory Shared Resource allows these researchers to perform single-cell analysis studies that are critical to T-cell studies.

Exploring the effects of nutritional intervention pre- and postsurgery for bladder cancer

A radical cystectomy is performed on bladder cancer patients whose cancer has either spread into the bladder wall or recurred after initial treatment. While effective in treating the cancer, there can be a high cost in terms of long-term complications after surgery. The goal of this research effort was to unlock the potential of nutrition interventions to improve outcomes, survival and quality of life in bladder cancer patients. The researchers believe alterations to the immune response against tumor cells are critical to the potential effectiveness of this treatment and are using multiple capabilities of the Flow Cytometry Core Laboratory Shared Resource to test this hypothesis. While this research specifically evaluated patients undergoing radical cystectomy, the findings may be applied to other surgical patients in the future and may transform the approach to nutrition preparation and recovery after surgeries. Learn more.

Cite the cancer center support grant

This resource is funded by The University of Kansas Cancer Center Support Grant (CCSG) awarded by the National Cancer Institute (P30 CA168524). Publications that have utilized facility resources, services or scientific data generated by the resource should acknowledge the resource and cite the NCI CCSG grant.