ArticlePloS one2015
A novel approach for the detection and genetic analysis of live melanoma circulating tumor cells.
Article in PloS one, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 15 citations in OpenAlex.
- Circulating Tumor Cell Assessment in Presumed Early Stage Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Patients Treated with Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy: A Prospective Pilot Study.International journal of radiation oncology, biology, physics · 2018Trial
- Circulating tumor cells as biomarkers in melanoma: techniques, challenges, and clinical applications.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2026Review
- Detection and isolation of viable cancer cells mediated by spytag and spycatcher using conditionally replicative adenovirus and magnetic microbeads.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- A Novel Liquid Biopsy Strategy to Detect Small Amounts of Cancer Cells Using Cancer-Specific Replication Adenoviruses.Journal of clinical medicine · 2020Review
- Circulating Tumor Cells Are Associated with Recurrent Disease in Patients with Early-Stage Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Treated with Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy.Clinical cancer research : an official journal of the American Association for Cancer Research · 2020Article
- A cell transportation solution that preserves live circulating tumor cells in patient blood samples.BMC cancer · 2016Article
- Phenotype of circulating tumor cell: face-off between epithelial and mesenchymal masks.Tumour biology : the journal of the International Society for Oncodevelopmental Biology and Medicine · 2016Review
- Circulating Tumor Cells, DNA, and mRNA: Potential for Clinical Utility in Patients With Melanoma.The oncologist · 2016Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundCirculating tumor cell (CTC) detection and genetic analysis may complement currently available disease assessments in patients with melanoma to improve risk stratification and monitoring. We therefore sought to establish the feasibility of a telomerase-based assay for detecting and isolating live melanoma CTCs.
methodsThe telomerase-based CTC assay utilizes an adenoviral vector that, in the presence of elevated human telomerase activity, drives the amplification of green fluorescent protein. Tumor cells are then identified via an image processing system. The protocol was tested on melanoma cells in culture or spiked into control blood, and on samples from patients with metastatic melanoma. Genetic analysis of the isolated melanoma CTCs was then performed for BRAF mutation status.
resultsThe adenoviral vector was effective for all melanoma cell lines tested with sensitivity of 88.7% (95%CI 85.6-90.4%) and specificity of 99.9% (95%CI 99.8-99.9%). In a pilot trial of patients with metastatic disease, CTCs were identified in 9 of 10 patients, with a mean of 6.0 CTCs/mL. At a cutoff of 1.1 CTCs/mL, the telomerase-based assay exhibits test performance of 90.0% sensitivity and 91.7% specificity. BRAF mutation analysis of melanoma cells isolated from culture or spiked control blood, or from pilot patient samples was found to match the known BRAF mutation status of the cell lines and primary tumors.
conclusionsTo our knowledge, this is the first report of a telomerase-based assay effective for detecting and isolating live melanoma CTCs. These promising findings support further studies, including towards integrating into the management of patients with melanoma receiving multimodality therapy.
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