title: Detection of circulating tumor cells in human peripheral blood using surface-enhanced Raman scattering nanoparticles.
abstract: The detection and characterization of circulating tumor cells (CTC) holds great promise for personalizing medicine and optimizing systemic therapy. However, low specificity, low sensitivity, and the time consuming nature of current approaches have impeded clinical adoption. Here we report a new method using surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) to directly measure targeted CTCs in the presence of white blood cells. SERS nanoparticles with epidermal growth factor peptide as a targeting ligand have successfully identified CTCs in the peripheral blood of 19 patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN), with a range of 1 to 720 CTCs per milliliter of whole blood. Our technique may provide an important new clinical tool for management of patients with SCCHN and other cancers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia 30322, USA.
authors.forename: Xu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Ximei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Qian
authors.forename: Jonathan J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Beitler
authors.forename: Zhuo Georgia
authors.initials: ZG
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Fadlo R
authors.initials: FR
authors.lastname: Khuri
authors.forename: Melinda M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Lewis
authors.forename: Hyung Ju C
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.forename: Shuming
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nie
authors.forename: Dong M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Shin
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D051379:Mice; D053758:Nanoparticles; D009360:Neoplastic Cells, Circulating / Q000473:pathology*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013059:Spectrum Analysis, Raman / Q000379:methods*