Listicle: 5 Innovative Ways to Advance Your Circulating Tumor Cell Research
Last updated: June 2024
Overview
Metastasis, responsible for ~90% of cancer-related deaths, can occur rapidly in patients with aggressive tumors. It begins when malignant cells detach from the primary or metastatic tumor, enter the circulatory system, and establish new growths elsewhere. These circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are crucial for diagnostics and treatment.
Early and accurate identification of CTCs could significantly enhance cancer care by serving as markers for aggressive or metastatic cancers. Genetically representative of the main tumor, CTCs can monitor disease progression and guide non-invasive treatments. Additionally, CTCs can be cultured ex vivo for research, aiding in the creation of tumor cell lines to study cellular mechanisms and test new treatments.
Despite their importance, CTCs are rare, making isolation and analysis challenging. Traditional methods like EpCAM-based techniques, antigen selection, FACS, and microfluidic methods often lack sensitivity, are time-consuming, and offer limited throughput and data.
- Document type: Listicle
- Page count: 5
- Read time: 5 minutes
Key Takeaways
- To unlock the full potential of CTCs, rapid, automated and highly accurate methods for isolation, identification and enrichment are required.
- This listicle explores how automated cell imaging and picking systems can address the current challenges in CTC isolation and analysis.
