Detection of Circulating Tumor Cells Using a Novel Immunomagnetic Bead Method in Lung Cancer Patients

摘要

BackgroundCirculating tumor cells (CTCs) are detectable in peripheral blood of metastatic lung cancer patients. In this article, we evaluate a new CTC separation method based on a combination of anti-EpCAM and immunomagnetic beads with the aim to detect CTCs more conveniently and specifically. MethodsLung cancer cells were magnetically labeled by anti-EpCAM magnetic beads, and subsequently captured by magnetic separation using our novel device. Isolated lung cancer cells were identified by pathomorphological by hematoxylin–eosin staining protocol. The system was used to detect CTCs in 2 ml blood. Blood samples of healthy donors spiked with lung cancer cell line A549 cells were used to determine the sensitivity and specificity of the method. Prevalence of CTCs was examined in samples from 56 patients with lung cancer. ResultsRegression analysis of number of recovered versus spiked A549 cells yielded a coefficient of determination of R sup2/sup = 0.996 ( P ConclusionsThis novel turbulence device provides a new tool allowing for feasible and specific detection of CTCs in lung cancer patients. It is likely clinically useful in diagnosis and monitoring of lung cancer and may have a role in clinical decision making.