title: Detection of circulating tumor cells in breast cancer with a refined immunomagnetic nanoparticle enriched assay and nested-RT-PCR.
abstract: Early detection of circulation tumor cells (CTCs) in breast cancer patients has great clinical relevance. Currently, immunomagnetic microparticles enriched assays require Fe3O4 inner cores, making it difficult to improve sensitivity. In this study, we prepared magnetic nanoparticles with carbon-coated pure iron (Fe@C) acted as the core, Conjugating with EpCAM monoclonal antibody for immunomagnetic nanoparticles(IMPs). IMPs were used in conjunction with immunocytochemistry (ICC) to develop a refined immunomagnetic nanoparticles enriched assay (IMPEA) for detection of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in breast cancer patients. Compared with nested RT-PCR, this method achieved the same sensitivity, but with a significantly reduced false-positive rate. This method will help find hidden micrometastases, establish clinical stage, and guide individual treatment post-surgery, suggesting potentially significant value in the clinic.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  This team of investigators prepared magnetic nanoparticles with carbon-coated pure iron as core and conjugated them with EpCAM monoclonal antibody to form immunomagnetic nanoparticles for circulating tumor cell (CTC) detection. Compared with nested RT-PCR, this method achieved the same sensitivity, but with a significantly reduced false-positive rate, paving the way to the development of a tool that enables enhanced detection of micrometastases and post-surgical treatment monitoring.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Medical Research Center, The 2nd Clinic Medicine College (Shenzhen People's Hospital), Jinan University, Shenzhen 518020, PR China; Shenzhen Institute of Gerontology, Shenzhen 518020, PR China. Electronic address: frli62@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Fu-Rong
authors.initials: FR
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Han-Xin
authors.initials: HX
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Qi
authors.forename: Chun-Yan
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Deng
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology*; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D018189:Immunomagnetic Separation / Q000379:methods*; D053539:Keratin-19 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D061986:MCF-7 Cells; D008875:Middle Aged; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D009360:Neoplastic Cells, Circulating / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D010316:Particle Size; D011379:Prognosis; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D053539:Keratin-19; C430872:MAML1 protein, human; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D014157:Transcription Factors
keywords: Breast cancer; circulating tumor cells; immunomagnetic nanoparticles; nested RT-PCR