Cytometric comparisons between circulating tumor cells from prostate cancer patients and the prostate-tumor-derived LNCaP cell line.

Many important experiments in cancer research are initiated with cell line data analysis due to the ease of accessibility and utilization. Recently, the ability to capture and characterize circulating tumor cells (CTCs) has become more prevalent in the research setting. This ability to detect, isolate and analyze CTCs allows us to directly compare specific protein expression levels found in patient CTCs to cell lines. In this study, we use immunocytochemistry to compare the protein expression levels of total cytokeratin (CK) and androgen receptor (AR) in CTCs and cell lines from patients with prostate cancer to determine what translational insights might be gained through the use of cell line data. A non-enrichment CTC detection assay enables us to compare cytometric features and relative expression levels of CK and AR by indirect immunofluorescence from prostate cancer patients against the prostate cancer cell line LNCaP. We measured physical characteristics of these two groups and observed significant differences in cell size, fluorescence intensity and nuclear to cytoplasmic ratio. We hope that these experiments will initiate a foundation to allow cell line data to be compared against characteristics of primary cells from patients.

High-definition imaging of circulating tumor cells and associated cellular events in non-small cell lung cancer patients: a longitudinal analysis.

Sampling circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from peripheral blood is ideally accomplished using assays that detect high numbers of cells and preserve them for downstream characterization. We sought to evaluate a method using enrichment free fluorescent labeling of CTCs followed by automated digital microscopy in patients with non-small cell lung cancer. Twenty-eight patients with non-small cell lung cancer and hematogenously seeded metastasis were analyzed with multiple blood draws. We detected CTCs in 68% of analyzed samples and found a propensity for increased CTC detection as the disease progressed in individual patients. CTCs were present at a median concentration of 1.6 CTCs ml⁻¹ of analyzed blood in the patient population. Higher numbers of detected CTCs were associated with an unfavorable prognosis.

Development of cladribine at Scripps for hairy cell leukemia and current results.

Hairy cell leukemia (HCL) is an indolent, mature B-cell lymphoproliferative malignancy that clinically manifests as pancytopenia and fibrosis of the bone marrow, ultimately leading to recurrent infections and splenomegaly. This article reviews the extensive experience at Scripps Clinic with cladribine (2-chlorodeoxyadenosine; 2-CdA) in HCL. It is currently recommended as first-line treatment in HCL, because of its proven efficacy with associated low toxicity profile and brevity of treatment duration, with the majority of responses being complete (CRs). This was achieved after only a single 7-day infusion. We also discuss the success of cladribine in patients with relapsed and refractory HCL and potential approaches to eradicating minimal residual disease (MRD). MRD is thought to predict for future relapses. The eradication of MRD warrants continued study in order to further improve disease-free survival, which may translate into ultimately curing patients with HCL.