In vivo quantitation of rare circulating tumor cells by multiphoton intravital flow cytometry
- PMID: 17601776
- PMCID: PMC1913863
- DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0703875104
In vivo quantitation of rare circulating tumor cells by multiphoton intravital flow cytometry
Abstract
Quantitation of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) constitutes an emerging tool for the diagnosis and staging of cancer, assessment of response to therapy, and evaluation of residual disease after surgery. Unfortunately, no existing technology has the sensitivity to measure the low numbers of tumor cells (<1 CTC per ml of whole blood) that characterize minimal levels of disease. We present a method, intravital flow cytometry, that noninvasively counts rare CTCs in vivo as they flow through the peripheral vasculature. The method involves i.v. injection of a tumor-specific fluorescent ligand followed by multiphoton fluorescence imaging of superficial blood vessels to quantitate the flowing CTCs. Studies in mice with metastatic tumors demonstrate that CTCs can be quantitated weeks before metastatic disease is detected by other means. Analysis of whole blood samples from cancer patients further establishes that human CTCs can be selectively labeled and quantitated when present at approximately 2 CTCs per ml, opening opportunities for earlier assessment of metastatic disease.
Conflict of interest statement
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Figures


Similar articles
-
Quantitation of circulating tumor cells in blood samples from ovarian and prostate cancer patients using tumor-specific fluorescent ligands.Int J Cancer. 2008 Oct 15;123(8):1968-73. doi: 10.1002/ijc.23717. Int J Cancer. 2008. PMID: 18661519 Free PMC article.
-
Real-time monitoring of rare circulating hepatocellular carcinoma cells in an orthotopic model by in vivo flow cytometry assesses resection on metastasis.Cancer Res. 2012 May 15;72(10):2683-91. doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-11-3733. Epub 2012 Mar 26. Cancer Res. 2012. PMID: 22454286
-
Real-time in vivo imaging of subpopulations of circulating tumor cells using antibody conjugated quantum dots.J Nanobiotechnology. 2019 Feb 6;17(1):26. doi: 10.1186/s12951-019-0453-7. J Nanobiotechnology. 2019. PMID: 30728024 Free PMC article.
-
Multiphoton flow cytometry strategies and applications.Cytometry A. 2011 Oct;79(10):775-88. doi: 10.1002/cyto.a.21110. Epub 2011 Jul 27. Cytometry A. 2011. PMID: 21796772 Review.
-
[Circulating tumor cells (CTCs)--clinical significance in patients with ovarian cancer].Ginekol Pol. 2012 Apr;83(4):291-4. Ginekol Pol. 2012. PMID: 22712262 Review. Polish.
Cited by
-
Magnetomotive photoacoustic imaging: in vitro studies of magnetic trapping with simultaneous photoacoustic detection of rare circulating tumor cells.J Biophotonics. 2013 Jun;6(6-7):513-22. doi: 10.1002/jbio.201200221. Epub 2013 Feb 18. J Biophotonics. 2013. PMID: 23420803 Free PMC article.
-
Near-infrared diffuse in vivo flow cytometry.J Biomed Opt. 2022 Sep;27(9):097002. doi: 10.1117/1.JBO.27.9.097002. J Biomed Opt. 2022. PMID: 36114606 Free PMC article.
-
Imaging the pharmacology of nanomaterials by intravital microscopy: Toward understanding their biological behavior.Adv Drug Deliv Rev. 2017 Apr;113:61-86. doi: 10.1016/j.addr.2016.05.023. Epub 2016 Jun 4. Adv Drug Deliv Rev. 2017. PMID: 27266447 Free PMC article. Review.
-
Application of Imaging Technologies in Breast Cancer Detection: A Review Article.Open Access Maced J Med Sci. 2019 Mar 14;7(5):838-848. doi: 10.3889/oamjms.2019.171. eCollection 2019 Mar 15. Open Access Maced J Med Sci. 2019. PMID: 30962849 Free PMC article. Review.
-
Liquid Biopsy and its Potential for Management of Hepatocellular Carcinoma.J Gastrointest Cancer. 2016 Jun;47(2):157-67. doi: 10.1007/s12029-016-9801-0. J Gastrointest Cancer. 2016. PMID: 26969471 Review.
References
-
- Cristofanilli M, Budd GT, Ellis MJ, Stopeck A, Matera J, Miller MC, Reuben JM, Doyle GV, Allard WJ, Terstappen LW, et al. N Engl J Med. 2004;351:781–791. - PubMed
-
- Cristofanilli M, Hayes DF, Budd GT, Ellis MJ, Stopeck A, Reuben JM, Doyle GV, Matera J, Allard WJ, Miller MC, et al. J Clin Oncol. 2005;23:1420–1430. - PubMed
-
- Allard WJ, Matera J, Miller MC, Repollet M, Connelly MC, Rao C, Tibbe AGJ, Uhr JW, Terstappen LW. Clin Cancer Res. 2004;10:6897–6904. - PubMed
-
- Molnar B, Ladanyi A, Tanko L, Sreter L, Tulassay Z. Clin Cancer Res. 2001;7:4080–4085. - PubMed
-
- Muller V, Stahmann N, Riethdorf S, Rau T, Zabel T, Goetz A, Janicke F, Pantel K. Clin Cancer Res. 2005;11:3678–3685. - PubMed
Publication types
MeSH terms
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources
Other Literature Sources
Medical
Molecular Biology Databases