In this study, blood samples were obtained for circulating tumor cell analysis at the time of primary surgery, just before surgical resection.
It also requires less specialized equipment than what is normally required for circulating tumor cell analysis.
We found no differences (P = 0.61) in circulating tumor cell identification rates between patients who were chemo-naive and those who received NACT prior to circulating tumor cell analysis.
While tissue sampling is invasive and often difficult to repeat, circulating tumor cell (CTC) analysis requires only a blood sample and might provide an easy-to-repeat, real-time "liquid biopsy" approach.
Yoon, H. J., Kozminsky, M. & Nagrath, S. Emerging role of nanomaterials in circulating tumor cell isolation and analysis.
All 28 tubes were processed within 4 days after blood collection according to the sample preparation and analysis protocol for circulating tumor cell detection.
Analysis found that circulating tumor cell and circulating endothelial cell levels dropped from baseline in both studies as a result of treatment.
"These circulating tumor cells are so few that if you just take a regular blood sample, those test tubes likely won't even have a single circulating tumor cell in them," said Gambhir, the Virginia and D.K. Ludwig Professor of Clinical Investigation in Cancer Research.
Sodium citrate tubes were used for microparticle analysis and whole blood in ACD was used for apoptotic circulating endothelial cell (CEC), circulating tumor cell (CTC), and circulating endothelial progenitor (CEP) assays within 24 h of phlebotomy.
Shaw, J. A. et al. Mutation analysis of cell-free dna and single circulating tumor cells in metastatic breast cancer patients with high circulating tumor cell counts.
Cho, E. H. E. et al. Characterization of circulating tumor cell aggregates identified in patients with epithelial tumors.
