Methods for the detection and quantification of circulating tumor cell mimics

Abstract

The disclosure provides methods for detecting circulating endothelial cells (CECs) that mimic CTCs with respect to aspects of their immunofluorescent staining and with respect to aspects of their morphological characteristics (CTC mimics). The present disclosure is based, in part, on the unexpected discovery that CTC mimics can be detected in non-enriched blood samples among CTC candidate cells. The present disclosure is further based, in part, on the discovery that CTC mimics can be detected in non-enriched blood samples by combining the detection of one or more immunofluorescent markers in the nucleated cells of a non-enriched blood sample with an assessment of the morphology of the nucleated cells.

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