scholarly journals In vivo flow cytometry: A powerful optical technology to detect circulating tumor cells and diagnose cancer metastasis in vivo/In-vivo-Durchflusszytometrie: Ein leistungsstarkes optisches Verfahren zur Detektion zirkulierender Tumorzellen und zur In-vivo-Diagnose von Metastasen

2013 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhichao Fan ◽  
Xunbin Wei

AbstractOptical methods have revolutionized medical diagnoses, therapies and research, and have penetrated many medical disciplines for example, tumor diagnosis and treatment. Tumor recurrence and metastasis are the major obstacles for long-term survival in cancer. The metastasis is reported to be correlated with the presence of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in the vasculature as a consequence of either advanced tumor growth and invasion, or a therapeutic intervention. Thus, CTCs are considered to be important biomarkers for cancer progress and prognosis. The quantification of CTCs is an emerging tool used to diagnose, stratify and monitor patients with metastatic diseases. A number of methods have been developed to detect CTCs, some of which have been applied in clinical diagnosis. However, conventional methods are restricted by invasiveness, lower sensitivity caused by small blood sample volumes, and difficulty in recording the dynamics of CTCs. A novel technique named

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xi Zhu ◽  
Yuanzhen Suo ◽  
Yuting Fu ◽  
Fuli Zhang ◽  
Nan Ding ◽  
...  

AbstractCirculating tumor cells (CTCs) is an established biomarker of cancer metastasis. The circulation dynamics of CTCs are important for understanding the mechanisms underlying tumor cell dissemination. Although studies have revealed that the circadian rhythm may disrupt the growth of tumors, it is generally unclear whether the circadian rhythm controls the release of CTCs. In clinical examinations, the current in vitro methods for detecting CTCs in blood samples are based on a fundamental assumption that CTC counts in the peripheral blood do not change significantly over time, which is being challenged by recent studies. Since it is not practical to draw blood from patients repeatedly, a feasible strategy to investigate the circadian rhythm of CTCs is to monitor them by in vivo detection methods. Fluorescence in vivo flow cytometry (IVFC) is a powerful optical technique that is able to detect fluorescent circulating cells directly in living animals in a noninvasive manner over a long period of time. In this study, we applied fluorescence IVFC to monitor CTCs noninvasively in an orthotopic mouse model of human prostate cancer. We observed that CTCs exhibited stochastic bursts over cancer progression. The probability of the bursting activity was higher at early stages than at late stages. We longitudinally monitored CTCs over a 24-h period, and our results revealed striking daily oscillations in CTC counts that peaked at the onset of the night (active phase for rodents), suggesting that the release of CTCs might be regulated by the circadian rhythm.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (17) ◽  
pp. 9279
Author(s):  
Inés Martínez-Pena ◽  
Pablo Hurtado ◽  
Nuria Carmona-Ule ◽  
Carmen Abuín ◽  
Ana Belén Dávila-Ibáñez ◽  
...  

Background: Cancer metastasis is a deathly process, and a better understanding of the different steps is needed. The shedding of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and CTC-cluster from the primary tumor, its survival in circulation, and homing are key events of the metastasis cascade. In vitro models of CTCs and in vivo models of metastasis represent an excellent opportunity to delve into the behavior of metastatic cells, to gain understanding on how secondary tumors appear. Methods: Using the zebrafish embryo, in combination with the mouse and in vitro assays, as an in vivo model of the spatiotemporal development of metastases, we study the metastatic competency of breast cancer CTCs and CTC-clusters and the molecular mechanisms. Results: CTC-clusters disseminated at a lower frequency than single CTCs in the zebrafish and showed a reduced capacity to invade. A temporal follow-up of the behavior of disseminated CTCs showed a higher survival and proliferation capacity of CTC-clusters, supported by their increased resistance to fluid shear stress. These data were corroborated in mouse studies. In addition, a differential gene signature was observed, with CTC-clusters upregulating cell cycle and stemness related genes. Conclusions: The zebrafish embryo is a valuable model system to understand the biology of breast cancer CTCs and CTC-clusters.


2015 ◽  
Vol 29 (Supplement 1) ◽  
pp. 1530010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Somayyeh Bakhtiaridoost ◽  
Hamidreza Habibiyan ◽  
Hassan Ghafoorifard

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are malignant cells that are derived from a solid tumor in the metastasis stage and are shed into the blood stream. These cells hold great promise to be used as liquid biopsy that is less aggressive than traditional biopsy. Recently, detection and enumeration of these cells has received ever-increasing attention from researchers as a way of early detection of cancer metastasis, determining the effectiveness of treatment and studying the mechanism of formation of secondary tumors. CTCs are found in blood at low concentration, which is a major limitation of isolation and detection of these cells. Over the last few years, multifarious research studies have been conducted on accurate isolation and detection and post processing of CTCs. Among all the proposed systems, microfluidic systems seem to be more attractive for researchers due to their numerous advantages. On the other hand, recent developments in optical methods have made the possibility of cellular studies at single-cell level. Thus, accuracy and efficiency of separation, detection and manipulation of CTCs can be improved using optical techniques. In this review, we describe optical methods that have been used for CTC detection, manipulation and post processing.


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