Capturing Circulating Tumor Cells to Ascertain Drug Sensitivity

Both primary tumors and metastatic tumor deposits shed malignant cells into the circulation. Capturing an individual's circulating tumor cells and studying them for genetic mutations and drug sensitivity could lead to more-effective, targeted treatment. Moreover, if a less invasive method of collecting such tumor cells, via venipuncture rather than biopsy, were developed, both patients and physicians would benefit. The problem, however, is that tumor cells are shed in very small numbers. Finding the tumor cell “needle” in the “haystack” of white blood cells has been difficult.

A team from Harvard-affiliated institutions has developed a specialized cell sorting technique and has extracted circulating breast cancer cells from six patients. The…