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Circulating Tumor Cells Are Transcriptionally Similar to the Primary Tumor in a Murine Prostate Model

¹ ICx Biosystems, La Jolla, California and ² CELLective Dx, Mountain View, California

Requests for reprints: Jeanne Harvey, On-Q-ity, 610 Lincoln St., Waltham, MA 02451. Phone: 781-895-8100; Fax: 781-890-4636; E-mail: jeanne.harvey{at}On-Q-ity.com.

Key Words: circulating tumor cells • metastases • xenograft • transcriptional profiling • laser capture microscopy

The abundance of circulating tumor cells (CTC) indicates patient prognosis. Molecular characterization of CTCs may add additional information about a patient's disease. However, currently available methods are limited by contamination with blood cells. We describe a study using a modified CTC-chip to capture CTCs from an orthotopic xenograft model. Using laser capture microscopy to collect CTCs from the chip, we compared transcripts from purified CTCs with those from primary and metastatic tissue. Transcriptional profiles showed strong concordance among primary, metastatic, and CTC sources. Moreover, cells captured on the chip were viable and could be expanded in culture. We conclude that the CTC-chip is a useful tool to further characterize animal models of cancer and that viable CTCs can be isolated and show transcriptional similarity to solid tumors. [Cancer Res 2009;69(19):7860–6]