Single cell genomic profiling of circulating tumor cells (ctcs) in metastatic disease to characterize disease heterogeneity

Abstract

The disclosure provides a method of detecting heterogeneity of disease in a cancer patient comprising (a) performing a direct analysis comprising immuno fluorescent staining and morphological characterization of nucleated cells in a blood sample obtained from the patient to identify and enumerate circulating tumor cells (CTC); (b) isolating the CTCs from the sample: (c) individually characterizing genomic parameters to generate a genomic profile for each of the CTCs, and (c) determining heterogeneity of disease in the cancer patient based on the profile. In some embodiments, the cancer is prostate cancer. In some embodiments, the prostate cancer is hormone refractory.

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