Molecular biomarker analyses using circulating tumor cells.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Evaluation of cancer biomarkers from blood could significantly enable biomarker assessment by providing a relatively non-invasive source of representative tumor material. Circulating Tumor Cells (CTCs) isolated from blood of metastatic cancer patients hold significant promise in this regard.

Methodology/principal findings

Using spiked tumor-cells we evaluated CTC capture on different CTC technology platforms, including CellSearch and two biochip platforms, and used the isolated CTCs to develop and optimize assays for molecular characterization of CTCs. We report similar performance for the various platforms tested in capturing CTCs, and find that capture efficiency is dependent on the level of EpCAM expression. We demonstrate that captured CTCs are amenable to bio

SUBMITTER: Punnoose EA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2935889 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature