Introducing, OncoTarget

Abstract

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) have attracted pretty much attention from scientists because of their important relationship with the process of metastasis. Here, we developed a size-based microfluidic chip containing triangular pillar array and filter channel array for detecting single CTCs and CTC clusters independent of tumor-specific markers. The cell populations in chip were characterized by immune-fluorescent staining combining an epithelial marker and a mesenchymal marker. We largely decreased the whole time of detection process to nearly 1.5h with this microfluidic device. The CTCs were subsequently measured in 77 patients with lung cancer and 39 healthy persons. The microfluidic device allowed for the detection of CTCs with apparent high sensitivity and specificity (82.7% sensitivity and 100% specificity). Furthermore, the total CTC counts were found to be elevated in advanced patients with metastases when compared with those without (20.89±14.57 vs 8.428±5.858 cells/ mL blood; P<0.01). Combined epithelial marker and mesenchymal marker analysis of CTCs could provide more information about metastasis in patients than only usage of epithelial marker. In conclusion, the development of the size-based microfluidic device for efficient capture of CTCs will enable detailed characterization of their biological properties and values in cancer diagnosis.

Clinical utility of circulating tumor cells in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer

“…More recently, a size-based microfluidic chip for detecting single CTC and CTC clusters allowed for the detection of CTC in lung cancer patients with apparent high sensitivity and specificity when compared to healthy controls (82.7% sensitivity and 100% specificity) (12). Interestingly, the levels of CTC in stage I-II patients were lower as compared with patients in advanced stage or with local recurrence of the disease, thus reinforcing the need for high sensitive techniques for early diagnosis of lung cancer through CTC detection.…”

“…However, the use of an epithelial cell marker such as EpCam for CTC isolation might lead to an underestimation of the CTC count because of a potential loss of epithelial markers during the EMT that is a phenomenon frequently associated with the metastatic cascade (48). Methods that are more sensitive have been recently demonstrated to capture a higher number of CTC in NSCLC patients (12,49). Sensitivity of CTC detection is an important issue also for early diagnosis in high-risk patients as well as for prognostic assessment in early lung cancer.…”

ROR1 is highly expressed in circulating tumor cells and promotes invasion of pancreatic cancer

“…CTCs have already been widely used as a biomarker for the assessment of cancer prognosis and response to therapy (12). Previous studies have reported that CTC counts have an association with the prognosis and development of numerous metastatic diseases, including breast, colon, prostate and lung cancers (13)(14)(15)(16)(17). Therefore, studying CTCs may improve understanding of the potential mechanisms underlying tumorigenesis and metastasis, offer promising clinical trials for patients with metastatic cancer, and supply a target for designing effective and individualized cancer therapies.…”

Early Detection of Cancer in Blood Using Single-Cell Analysis: A Proposal

“…We can assume that a sample obtained from a patient suffering from one of these tumors can contain CR cells, all sharing a CN profile with the tumor. We can further assume the CR cell count to be 10 cells per 10 mL, well within the range of published circulating tumor cell counts [6, 8, 28]. To model CR cells, one tumor profile is selected for each clone.…”