EpCAMlow Circulating Tumor Cells: Gold in the Waste

The CellSearch® system which is still considered the gold standard for the enumeration of circulating tumor cells (CTC) utilizes antibodies against the epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM) for CTC enrichment. Recently, CTC discarded by the CellSearch® system due to their low EpCAM expression ha...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Chiara Nicolazzo, Angela Gradilone, Flavia Loreni, Cristina Raimondi, Paola Gazzaniga
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Hindawi Limited 2019-01-01
Series:Disease Markers
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2019/1718920
Description
Summary:The CellSearch® system which is still considered the gold standard for the enumeration of circulating tumor cells (CTC) utilizes antibodies against the epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM) for CTC enrichment. Recently, CTC discarded by the CellSearch® system due to their low EpCAM expression have been isolated and analyzed. We here sought to discuss technical and biological issues concerning the isolation and characterization of EpCAMlow CTC, highlighting the enormous potential of this subpopulation discarded by CellSearch®, which might instead reveal an unexpected clinical significance in tumor types where CTC enumeration has never been validated for prognostic and predictive purpose.
ISSN:0278-0240
1875-8630