What are the technical approaches used in CTC analysis?

We briefly focus on the evolution of the technical approaches used in the CTCs analysis from early description of the most discussed contemporary workflows such as Cellsearch and CTC-iChip. In addition, we discuss more "unconventional" approaches such as mass spectrometry and NMR based methods of CTC analysis.

What is a CTC in cancer?

These cancer cells that enter the body's circulatory and lymphatic systems are known as CTCs.5 CTCs are ambassadors of a localized disease and can potentially form a new cancerous lesion at a distant site. 6, 7 Further, CTCs may remain dormant at metastatic sites and become activated at a later time, resulting in relapse.

How is cell invasion used to identify CTCs?

The cell invasion as a detection tool for CTC identification relies on CTCs’ ability to invade through the stroma by ingesting fluorescently coated cell adhesion matrix.73 Fluorescent cells that also positively stain for the epithelial cell lineage markers (Epi+), and negative for CD45, are considered to be CTCs.

What is CAD used for?

CAD has been used for a wide range of analyses throughout the drug development process, for example drug discovery (7), formulations research and development (8), natural product isolation (9), impurities (10,11), cleaning validation (12), drug substance and drug product characterization (13,14) and stability (15) among others.