In vivo flow cytometry: A powerful optical technology to detect circulating tumor cells and diagnose cancer metastasis in vivo/In-vivo-Durchflusszytometrie: Ein leistungsstarkes optisches Verfahren zur Detektion zirkulierender Tumorzellen und zur In-vivo-Diagnose von Metastasen

Abstract

AbstractOptical methods have revolutionized medical diagnoses, therapies and research, and have penetrated many medical disciplines for example, tumor diagnosis and treatment. Tumor recurrence and metastasis are the major obstacles for long-term survival in cancer. The metastasis is reported to be correlated with the presence of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in the vasculature as a consequence of either advanced tumor growth and invasion, or a therapeutic intervention. Thus, CTCs are considered to be important biomarkers for cancer progress and prognosis. The quantification of CTCs is an emerging tool used to diagnose, stratify and monitor patients with metastatic diseases. A number of methods have been developed to detect CTCs, some of which have been applied in clinical diagnosis. However, conventional methods are restricted by invasiveness, lower sensitivity caused by small blood sample volumes, and difficulty in recording the dynamics of CTCs. A novel technique named