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. 2001 Mar;84(5):631–635. doi: 10.1054/bjoc.2000.1662

Detection of circulating carcinoma cells by telomerase activity

L R Gauthier 1, C Granotier 1, J-C Soria 2, S Faivre 2, V Boige 2, E Raymond 2, F D Boussin 1
PMCID: PMC2363781  PMID: 11237383

Abstract

Telomerase has been shown to be a marker of epithelial cancer cells. We developed a method that allows the detection of circulating carcinoma cells in the blood of cancer patients. Circulating epithelial cells are harvested from peripheral blood mononuclear cells by immunomagnetic separation using BerEP4-coated beads. A telomeric repeat amplification protocol (TRAP)-ELISA is then used to measure telomerase in harvested epithelial cells. This method is specific and sensitive as demonstrated by experiments using BerEP4-positive and negative cell lines. Whereas we never found telomerase activity in harvested epithelial cells (HEC) samples from 30/30 healthy donors, we have detected telomerase activity in HEC from 11/15 (73%) patients with stage IIIB or IV non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients and from 8/11 (72%) stage C or D (Dukes classification) colon cancer patients. This non-invasive method could be of great value as a diagnostic or prognostic marker, or for monitoring cancer progression. © 2001 Cancer Research Campaign http://www.bjcancer.com

Keywords: circulating tumour cells, carcinoma, telomerase

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Selected References

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