EpCAM-Independent Enrichment and Detection of Viable Circulating Tumor Cells Using the EPISPOT Assay

Identification and characterization of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in peripheral blood can provide information on the direction and the efficacy of treatments. Current techniques such as CellSearch\textregisteredare ?lim??i?ted? in differentiating~between apoptotic and viable CTCs. In contrast, the fluorescent~EPISPOT assay allows for the identification of viable cell?s by detecting proteins secreted/released/shed by functional single epithelial cancer cells. In addition, as CTCs are rare events, it is required to combine the EPISPOT assay with an enrichment step. In this article, the EPISPOT assay, as well as two technologies for enrichment of viable CTCs, RosetteSep\texttrademark and Parsortix\texttrademark techniques, will be presen?ted and di?scussed in detail.