METHOD FOR THE DETECTION OF CIRCULATING TUMOUR CELLS, BOTH CIRCULATING TUMOUR CELLS OF THE EPITHELIAL PHENOTYPE AND CIRCULATING TUMOUR CELLS HAVING EPITHELIAL-MESENCHYMAL TRANSITION (EMT) MARKERS, USING THE MIRNA-21 AS A BIOMARKER

摘要

The present invention provides an in vitro method of detecting circulating tumour cells, circulating tumour cells of epithelial phenotype and circulating tumour cells of epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMTs), in a biological sample using, as an indicator, expression levels of miRNA-21, and obtaining a result of the method by comparing the expression levels of said miRNA-21 with a negative control or with a positive control, wherein if the expression levels in the cells of the biological sample are over-expressed in comparison to a negative control is indicative of the presence of circulating tumour cells in said biological sample or wherein if the expression levels in the cells of the biological sample are expressed in an amount greater than 2/3 of the maximum expression achieved in a positive control is indicative of the presence of circulating tumour cells in said biological sample.