As the presence of tumor cells circulating in the blood is associated with shortened survival, a method to detect circulating tumor cells could help clinicians hoping to predict a patient's chances of survival and/or monitor a patient's response to treatment. Now, Toshiyoshi Fujiwara and colleagues, at Okayama University Hospital, Japan, have developed a simple imaging system able to do just that. Specifically, they developed an approach to visualize live tumor cells circulating in the peripheral blood of humans and found that the number of live circulating tumor cells reflected the tumor burden, as they decreased in number upon complete surgical removal of primary tumors. The authors therefore hope that their technology will prove to be of immense clinical benefit.
TITLE: A simple biological imaging system for detecting viable human circulating tumor cells
AUTHOR CONTACT:
Toshiyoshi Fujiwara
Okayama University Hospital, Okayama, Japan.
Phone: 81-86-235-7997; Fax: 81-86-235-7884; E-mail: toshi_f@md.okayama-u.ac.jp .
View the PDF of this article at: https://www.the-jci.org/article.php?id=38609
Journal of Clinical Investigation