Advancing breast cancer circulating tumour cell research at the Institute of Oncology Ljubljana
Circulating tumour cells (CTCs) have become an important biomarker in breast cancer, providing an insight into disease progression and monitoring of therapeutic response. Due to their extreme rarity in blood and the complexity of blood composition, their isolation and characterization is challengin...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | Slovenian |
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Institute of Oncology Ljubljana
2024-12-01
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| Series: | Onkologija |
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| Online Access: | https://revijaonkologija.si/Onkologija/article/view/562 |
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| author | Tanja Jesenko Cvetka Grašič Kuhar Živa Pišljar Simona Miceska Veronika Kloboves-Prevodnik Maja Čemažar |
| author_facet | Tanja Jesenko Cvetka Grašič Kuhar Živa Pišljar Simona Miceska Veronika Kloboves-Prevodnik Maja Čemažar |
| author_sort | Tanja Jesenko |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
Circulating tumour cells (CTCs) have become an important biomarker in breast cancer, providing an insight into disease progression and monitoring of therapeutic response. Due to their extreme rarity in blood and the complexity of blood composition, their isolation and characterization is challenging. Specific isolation methods allow the enrichment of CTCs from a blood sample and facilitate further analysis. At the Institute of Oncology Ljubljana, in 2018 we initiated efforts to develop a simple method for the isolation and characterization of CTCs, aimed at identifying these cells through cytopathological analysis. We evaluated two different methods of CTC isolation in breast cancer patients based on different approaches. The first method is based on cell biological properties, such as the expression of the epithelial cell adhesion marker (EpCAM), while the second method is based on physical properties of CTCs, such as their larger size and deformability compared to other blood cells. We found that the physical method is more suitable, as it enables the isolation of higher numbers of morphologically intact CTCs. After isolation, cytological slides are prepared and then characterized by cytopathological analysis and immunocytochemical and immunofluorescence staining. This approach currently allows us to determine the number of single CTCs and CTC clusters in the blood, assess their morphological preservation, and identify their phenotype. In addition to evaluation of single CTCs and CTC clusters in ongoing clinical trials using currently established methods and the planned establishment of a translational platform in mouse models, we aim to expand the range of CTC studies in the future to include genomic and transcriptomic analysis.
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| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-cbf6452247a849fb869bf072d3e3b88f |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1408-1741 1581-3215 |
| language | Slovenian |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
| publisher | Institute of Oncology Ljubljana |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Onkologija |
| spelling | doaj-art-cbf6452247a849fb869bf072d3e3b88f2024-12-21T11:49:39ZslvInstitute of Oncology LjubljanaOnkologija1408-17411581-32152024-12-0128210.25670/oi2024-010onAdvancing breast cancer circulating tumour cell research at the Institute of Oncology LjubljanaTanja Jesenko0Cvetka Grašič Kuhar1Živa Pišljar 2Simona Miceska3Veronika Kloboves-Prevodnik4Maja Čemažar 5Onkološki inštitut Ljubljana; Univerza v Ljubljani, Medicinska fakultetaOnkološki inštitut Ljubljana ; Univerza v Ljubljani, Medicinska fakultetaOnkološki inštitut LjubljanaOnkološki inštitut LjubljanaOnkološki inštitut Ljubljana; Univerza v Mariboru, Medicinska fakultetaOnkološki inštitut Ljubljana; Univerza na Primorskem, Fakulteta za vede o zdravju Circulating tumour cells (CTCs) have become an important biomarker in breast cancer, providing an insight into disease progression and monitoring of therapeutic response. Due to their extreme rarity in blood and the complexity of blood composition, their isolation and characterization is challenging. Specific isolation methods allow the enrichment of CTCs from a blood sample and facilitate further analysis. At the Institute of Oncology Ljubljana, in 2018 we initiated efforts to develop a simple method for the isolation and characterization of CTCs, aimed at identifying these cells through cytopathological analysis. We evaluated two different methods of CTC isolation in breast cancer patients based on different approaches. The first method is based on cell biological properties, such as the expression of the epithelial cell adhesion marker (EpCAM), while the second method is based on physical properties of CTCs, such as their larger size and deformability compared to other blood cells. We found that the physical method is more suitable, as it enables the isolation of higher numbers of morphologically intact CTCs. After isolation, cytological slides are prepared and then characterized by cytopathological analysis and immunocytochemical and immunofluorescence staining. This approach currently allows us to determine the number of single CTCs and CTC clusters in the blood, assess their morphological preservation, and identify their phenotype. In addition to evaluation of single CTCs and CTC clusters in ongoing clinical trials using currently established methods and the planned establishment of a translational platform in mouse models, we aim to expand the range of CTC studies in the future to include genomic and transcriptomic analysis. https://revijaonkologija.si/Onkologija/article/view/562circulating tumour cellsCTCCTC clustersbreast cancercancer research |
| spellingShingle | Tanja Jesenko Cvetka Grašič Kuhar Živa Pišljar Simona Miceska Veronika Kloboves-Prevodnik Maja Čemažar Advancing breast cancer circulating tumour cell research at the Institute of Oncology Ljubljana Onkologija circulating tumour cells CTC CTC clusters breast cancer cancer research |
| title | Advancing breast cancer circulating tumour cell research at the Institute of Oncology Ljubljana |
| title_full | Advancing breast cancer circulating tumour cell research at the Institute of Oncology Ljubljana |
| title_fullStr | Advancing breast cancer circulating tumour cell research at the Institute of Oncology Ljubljana |
| title_full_unstemmed | Advancing breast cancer circulating tumour cell research at the Institute of Oncology Ljubljana |
| title_short | Advancing breast cancer circulating tumour cell research at the Institute of Oncology Ljubljana |
| title_sort | advancing breast cancer circulating tumour cell research at the institute of oncology ljubljana |
| topic | circulating tumour cells CTC CTC clusters breast cancer cancer research |
| url | https://revijaonkologija.si/Onkologija/article/view/562 |
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