EARLY DETECT/CHARACTERIZATION OF TUMOR CELLS IN BLOOD

描述：（逐字改编自研究者摘要） 我们开发了一种高灵敏度的检测，计数和 表征血液中的上皮细胞。该测试可以检测到一个这样的细胞 2 x 108个白细胞。细胞可以是活的或固定的。述的方法 允许表征细胞的恶性性质、遗传 改变，器官起源和侵略性。我们用这种方法 研究了34名乳腺癌患者、7名前列腺癌患者和 23例对照（正常或非肿瘤性疾病）。肿瘤细胞被发现在 几乎所有癌症患者的血液，包括那些有肿瘤的人， 临床上局限于原发部位。在数量上没有重叠。 对照组的血液上皮细胞与23名癌症患者中的21名相比， 临床器官局限性肿瘤。后者的细胞形态为 肿瘤细胞和乳腺癌细胞表达粘蛋白-1，细胞角蛋白，8，18， 以及Her-2和类固醇受体。我们计划优化分析 包括确认区分血液和对照的临界值 与癌症患者相比， 肿瘤细胞，通过多色FISH（MCF）分析DNA改变， 癌基因突变的存在，细胞学和表面特征 与复制和攻击性相关的抗原。我们的假设是 该测定将在非常早期阶段检测癌， 精确化。因此，1）循环癌细胞可以在高风险中检测到吗？ 在发现原发性肿瘤之前，？2)该测试是否可用于 监控治疗3)该测试能否预测转移性疾病是否会 发展？我们还尝试对肿瘤细胞进行短期培养， 个体患者研究他们对常规和新型药物的反应性， 治疗剂。

DESCRIPTION: (adapted verbatim from the investigator's abstract) We have developed a highly sensitive test for detecting, enumerating and characterizing epithelial cells in the blood. The test can detect one such cell in 2 x 108 leukocytes. The cells can be obtained viable or fixed. The method allows characterization of the cells for their malignant nature, genetic alterations, organ of origin and aggressiveness. We have used the method to study the blood of 34 patients with breast cancer, 7 with prostate cancer and 23 controls (normal or non-neoplastic disease). Tumor cells were found in the blood of virtually all the cancer patients, including those that had a tumor clinically confined to the primary site. There was no overlap in the number of blood epithelial cells in the controls vs 21 of 23 cancer patients with clinically organ confined tumor. The latter have cells with the morphology of tumor cells and those with breast cancer, express Mucin-1, cytokeratin, 8, 18, and frequently Her-2 and steroid receptors. We plan to optimize the assay including confirming the cut-off value for distinguishing blood from controls vs patients with cancer, more assays to determine the breast origin of the tumor cells, analysis of DNA alterations by multi-color FISH (MCF), the presence of mutations in oncogenes, cytology and characterization of surface antigens associated with replication and aggressiveness. Our hypothesis is that the assay will detect carcinomas at a very early stage and can aid prognostication. Thus, 1) Can circulating cancer cells be detected in high risk individuals before detection of the primary tumor? 2) Can the test be used to monitor therapy? 3) Can the test predict whether metastatic disease will develop? We also attempt to do short-term culture of the tumor cells from individual patients to study their reactivity to conventional and novel therapeutic agents.