System for enrichment and enumeration of circulating tumour cells (CTCs) in a whole blood sample
The CellSearch system is the first and the only FDA cleared blood test clinically validated for the detection and count of circulating tumor cells of epithelial origin (CD45-, EpCAM + and cytokeratins 8, 18+ and / or 19+).
It consists of two tools: the Autoprep, for the capture and immunostaining of circulating tumor cells (CTC) and the Analyzer, a semi-automated fluorescence microscope for the analysis of fluorescence.
The CellSearch system is not limited to the counting of CTC from whole blood, but the combination of appropriate kits with different downstream processes allows their phenotypic and molecular characterization, fundamental in the process of developing new therapeutic strategies.