Methods and kits for the detection of circulating tumor cells in patients using polyspecific pancreatic capture reagents and detection cocktail

摘要

A method for detecting and enumerating rare cells in a mixed cell population from a biological sample obtained from a patient comprising a mixed cell population suspected of containing said rare cells, the presence of said rare cells in said population is indicative of a disease state, comprising: (a) preparing an immunomagnetic sample wherein said biological sample is mixed with a polyspecific ferrofluid conjugated with three antibodies selected from the group consisting of anti-EpCAM, anti-EGFR1, MUC1 and anti-claudin4, in which one of the antibodies is anti-EpCAM; (B) contacting said immunomagnetic sample with at least one reagent labeled polyspecific said rare cells, wherein the reagent comprises polyspecific antibodies against cytokeratin 7, cytokeratin 8, cytokeratin 18 and cytokeratin 19; and (c) analyzing said labeled rare cells to determine the presence and number of rare cells in said immunomagnetic sample, the greater the number of rare cells present in said sample, the greater the severity of said disease state.