Expanding the Definition of Traditional Circulating Tumor Cells (CTCs): Cells Associated With Cancer in the Blood of Patients With Solid TumorsFriday, 3 February 2012 at 10:00 Add to Calendar ▼2012-02-03 10:00:002012-02-03 11:00:00Europe/LondonExpanding the Definition of Traditional Circulating Tumor Cells (CTCs): Cells Associated With Cancer in the Blood of Patients With Solid Tumors Circulating Tumor Cells in San Diego, USASan Diego, USASELECTBIOenquiries@selectbiosciences.com The currently accepted definition of CTCs are cells that have: a nuclei, cytokeratin+ EpCAM+, and CD45-. Emerging evidence suggests that other rare, cancer associated circulating cells are present in the blood of metastatic cancer patients including CD45+ cytokeratin+ cells. A negative depletion process to isolate and quantify circulating tumor cells from the blood of head and neck cancer patients, using immunomagnetic separation was developed and is currently being validated on a number of solid tumors, including SCCHN and Breast Cancer. Correlation of number of CTCs, (tradition definition) tumor site, tumor stage, nodal status, smoking/alcohol abuse, histopathological characteristics, and clinical outcome was made with the SCCHN patients. In addition, the isolation of these cells is being used to measure the effectiveness of experimental drug combinations in a NCI approved study. |