Abstract: A method for determining one or more tumour properties in a subject with a tumour, the method comprising: —seeding a cell-free scaffold obtained from the tumour with cancer cells; —culturing the cancer cells in the scaffold; —assaying the cultured cancer cells for the presence of target molecules indicative of the expression of one or more genes in the cells; and —determining one or more tumour properties based on the results of the assay.

Abstract: Cell-free scaffolds derived from tumors in patients are used as in vitro cancer models and also provide information of the tumor, from which it is derived, including its susceptibility to cancer treatment. The cell-free scaffolds are also used as a predictive tool in assessing cancer treatment efficacy and in identifying immunotargets and biomarkers for cancer therapy.

Abstract: A method for determining one or more tumour properties in a subject with a tumour, the method comprising:—seeding a cell-free scaffold obtained from the tumour with cancer cells;—culturing the cancer cells in the scaffold;—assaying the cultured cancer cells for the presence of target molecules indicative of the expression of one or more genes in the cells; and—determining one or more tumour properties based on the results of the assay.

Abstract: The present invention determines lymphocyte clonality by contacting a sample comprising nucleic acid molecules (1) of lymphocytes with forward and reverse primers (10, 20) and amplifying the nucleic acid molecules (1) by performing PCR pre-amplification to form barcoded PCR products (50). The barcoded PCR products (50) are amplified using adapter-specific forward and reverse primers (30, 40) in a PCR application into amplified barcoded PCR products (60), which are sequenced. The sequence reads are demultiplexed, mapped to respective TCR or BCR clonotypes and used to determine lymphocyte clonality for the sample. The forward and/or reverse primers (10, 20) are barcoded by comprising UMIs (14, 24) protected inside hairpin loops.

Abstract: A method for determining one or more tumour properties in a subject with a tumour, the method comprising:—seeding a cell-free scaffold obtained from the tumour with cancer cells;—culturing the cancer cells in the scaffold;—assaying the cultured cancer cells for the presence of target molecules indicative of the expression of one or more genes in the cells; and—determining one or more tumour properties based on the results of the assay.