Macrophage-tumor cell fusions from peripheral blood of melanoma patients.

ABSTRACT:

Background

While the morbidity and mortality from cancer are largely attributable to its metastatic dissemination, the integral features of the cascade are not well understood. The widely accepted hypothesis is that the primary tumor microenvironment induces the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition in cancer cells, facilitating their escape into the bloodstream, possibly accompanied by cancer stem cells. An alternative theory for metastasis involves fusion of macrophages with tumor cells (MTFs). Here we culture and characterize apparent MTFs from blood of melanoma patients.

Methods

We isolated enriched CTC populations from peripheral blood samples from melanoma patients, and cultured them. We interrogated these cultured cells for characteristic BRAF mutations, and used confo

SUBMITTER: Clawson GA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4534457 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature