Detection of live circulating tumor cells by a class of near-infrared heptamethine carbocyanine dyes in patients with localized and metastatic prostate cancer.

ABSTRACT: Tumor cells are inherently heterogeneous and often exhibit diminished adhesion, resulting in the shedding of tumor cells into the circulation to form circulating tumor cells (CTCs). A fraction of these are live CTCs with potential of metastatic colonization whereas others are at various stages of apoptosis making them likely to be less relevant to understanding the disease. Isolation and characterization of live CTCs may augment information yielded by standard enumeration to help physicians to more accurately establish diagnosis, choose therapy, monitor response, and provide prognosis. We previously reported on a group of near-infrared (NIR) heptamethine carbocyanine dyes that are specifically and actively transported into live cancer cells. In this study, this viable tumor cell-specific b

SUBMITTER: Shao C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3925210 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature