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Technical Aspects of the Detection of Disseminated Tumour Cells by Molecular Methods

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Micrometastasis

Part of the book series: Cancer Metastasis - Biology and Treatment ((CMBT,volume 5))

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Abstract

The standard method for the detection of disseminated epithelial tumour cells is still immunocytochemistry despite some concerns such as relative low sensitivity and subjective evaluation. Several approaches have been made to develop sensitive and specific polymerase-chain reaction assays comparable to those in use for detection of minimal residual disease in haematological malignancies. The major problem is the absence of specific genetic aberrations in solid cancer. Thus, researchers focused on amplification of so-called tissue-specific expressed genes such as epithelial structure proteins or messenger RNA of tumour markers or tumour-associated proteins. Most assays were described as highly specific valuable tools by the developers, and subsequently as non-specific by investigators. This chapter describes the mechanisms leading to so-called ‘false-positive’ and ‘false-negative’ results, and discusses the strength and weakness of RT-PCR for detection of solid cancer cells. Furthermore, strategies are discussed for development of reverse-transcriptase polymerase-chain reaction systems and for using and increasing their specificity.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Internal Medicine C — Haematology/Oncology, Greifswald, Germany

    William H. Krüger

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  1. William H. Krüger
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Tumour Biology, University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany

    Klaus Pantel (Director) (Director)

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© 2003 Kluwer Academic Publishers

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Krüger, W.H. (2003). Technical Aspects of the Detection of Disseminated Tumour Cells by Molecular Methods. In: Pantel, K. (eds) Micrometastasis. Cancer Metastasis - Biology and Treatment, vol 5. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-306-48355-6_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/0-306-48355-6_1

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4020-1155-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-0-306-48355-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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