Abstract

Diagnostic Leukapheresis (DLA) to Improve CTC-Based Liquid Biopsies

Nikolas Stoecklein, Professor at the University Hospital and Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf

The direct access to systemically spread cancer cells is the true potential of CTC-based liquid biopsies. However, the major obstacle to implement CTC-based liquid biopsies into clinical routine applications is the extreme low concentration of CTCs and the minimal amount of investigated blood in standard CTC-tests. To tackle this problem, we introduced Diagnostic Leukapheresis (DLA), which resulted in an increase in CTC detection frequency and an escalation of the median CTC numbers. We hope that DLA, or similar approaches derived thereof, will advance the clinical utility of CTC-based liquid biopsies.