Department of Medical Cell BioPhysics, Faculty of Science and Technology, MIRA Institute for Biomedical Technology and Technical Medicine, University of Twente, Carre, Room C4437, Hallenweg 23, 7522 NH Enschede, The Netherlands
Guus van Dalum
Department of Medical Cell BioPhysics, Faculty of Science and Technology, MIRA Institute for Biomedical Technology and Technical Medicine, University of Twente, Carre, Room C4437, Hallenweg 23, 7522 NH Enschede, The Netherlands
Leon W. M. M. Terstappen
Department of Medical Cell BioPhysics, Faculty of Science and Technology, MIRA Institute for Biomedical Technology and Technical Medicine, University of Twente, Carre, Room C4437, Hallenweg 23, 7522 NH Enschede, The Netherlands
The increasing number of treatment options for patients with metastatic carcinomas has created an accompanying need for methods to determine if the tumor will be responsive to the intended therapy and to monitor its effectiveness. Ideally, these methods would be noninvasive and provide quantitative real-time analysis of tumor activity in a variety of carcinomas. Assessment of circulating tumor cells shed into the blood during metastasis may satisfy this need. Here we review the CellSearch technology used for the detection of circulating tumor cells and discuss potential future directions for improvements.
