美國科學家研發(fā)出一種癌細胞追蹤技術,，能用一種微型儀器追蹤拍攝血液中的癌細胞,，從而觀察癌癥病人在手術后的復原情況,。
癌癥病人接受手術后,，血液中會出現(xiàn)從腫瘤脫落的循環(huán)腫瘤細胞（circulating tumor cell）,。循環(huán)腫瘤細胞就好像腫瘤種子,，可以隨著血液循環(huán)到身體其他部位,，發(fā)育成新的腫瘤。
通過監(jiān)督循環(huán)腫瘤細胞的數(shù)量和蹤跡,，醫(yī)生就能提早發(fā)現(xiàn)病人會不會再度患上癌癥,，也能了解化療或其他治療是否對病人產(chǎn)生效果。
馬薩諸塞州總醫(yī)院和哈佛醫(yī)學院的科學家斯托特說：“我們對這種細胞非常有興趣,，因為我們相信這就是能讓我們進一步認識癌癥生物學和癌癥如何轉(zhuǎn)移的細胞,。”
斯托特的小組利用一種像生物膠的物質(zhì)，讓微芯片附著在血液中的循環(huán)腫瘤細胞上,，追蹤拍攝循環(huán)腫瘤細胞的圖像,。這種搭配了顯微鏡頭的微芯片能拍攝和儲存至少6000張圖像。
斯托特說：“無需預先處理,，你只須抽出血液,，然后將微芯片置入血液里,。”她說，有了這個方法,，醫(yī)生不必動手術割開病人身體,，就可以監(jiān)督腫瘤的情況。(生物谷Bioon.com)
生物谷推薦原文出處：
Science TM DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.3000403
Isolation and Characterization of Circulating Tumor Cells from Patients with Localized and Metastatic Prostate Cancer
Shannon L. Stott1,2,3,*, Richard J. Lee4,5,*, Sunitha Nagrath1,2,3,*, Min Yu4, David T. Miyamoto4,6, Lindsey Ulkus4, Elizabeth J. Inserra4, Matthew Ulman4, Simeon Springer4, Zev Nakamura4, Alessandra L. Moore1, Dina I. Tsukrov1, Maria E. Kempner4, Douglas M. Dahl2,7, Chin-Lee Wu4,8, A. John Iafrate4,8, Matthew R. Smith4,5, Ronald G. Tompkins2,3, Lecia V. Sequist4,5, Mehmet Toner1,2,3, Daniel A. Haber4,5,? and Shyamala Maheswaran3,4
Rare circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are present in the blood of patients with metastatic epithelial cancers but have been difficult to measure routinely. We report a quantitative automated imaging system for analysis of prostate CTCs, taking advantage of prostate-specific antigen (PSA), a unique prostate tumor–associated marker. The specificity of PSA staining enabled optimization of criteria for baseline image intensity, morphometric measurements, and integration of multiple signals in a three-dimensional microfluidic device. In a pilot analysis, we detected CTCs in prostate cancer patients with localized disease, before surgical tumor removal in 8 of 19 (42%) patients (range, 38 to 222 CTCs per milliliter). For 6 of the 8 patients with preoperative CTCs, a precipitous postoperative decline (<24 hours) suggests a short half-life for CTCs in the blood circulation. Other patients had persistent CTCs for up to 3 months after prostate removal, suggesting early but transient disseminated tumor deposits. In patients with metastatic prostate cancer, CTCs were detected in 23 of 36 (64%) cases (range, 14 to 5000 CTCs per milliliter). In previously untreated patients followed longitudinally, the numbers of CTCs declined after the initiation of effective therapy. The prostate cancer–specific TMPRSS2-ERG fusion was detectable in RNA extracted from CTCs from 9 of 20 (45%) patients with metastatic disease, and dual staining of captured CTCs for PSA and the cell division marker Ki67 indicated a broad range for the proportion of proliferating cells among CTCs. This method for analysis of CTCs will facilitate the application of noninvasive tumor sampling to direct targeted therapies in advanced prostate cancer and warrants the initiation of long-term clinical studies to test the importance of CTCs in invasive localized disease.
