Detection of mutations in EGFR in circulating lung-cancer cells.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The use of tyrosine kinase inhibitors to target the epidermal growth factor receptor gene (EGFR) in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer is effective but limited by the emergence of drug-resistance mutations. Molecular characterization of circulating tumor cells may provide a strategy for noninvasive serial monitoring of tumor genotypes during treatment.

Methods

We captured highly purified circulating tumor cells from the blood of patients with non-small-cell lung cancer using a microfluidic device containing microposts coated with antibodies against epithelial cells. We performed EGFR mutational analysis on DNA recovered from circulating tumor cells using allele-specific polymerase-chain-reaction amplification and compared the results with those from concurre

SUBMITTER: Maheswaran S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3551471 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature