Carcinoma Cell Enrichment Kit ( #130-060-101 )

Carcinoma Cell Enrichment Kit

Overview

The Carcinoma Cell Enrichment Kit was developed for more than a 10,000-fold the enrichment of disseminated epithelial tumor cells from peripheral blood, bone marrow, or lymphoid tissue by the positive selection of cytokeratin 7/8 expressing cells.

For convenient subsequent immunocytochemical detection the Carcinoma Cell Enrichment and Detection Kit can be used.

Details

Background information
Most malignant cells which have their origin in epithelial tissue express cytokeratin and can be recognized by an anti-cytokeratin antibody¹. With the Carcinoma Cell Enrichment Kit, disseminated epithelial tumor cells can rapidly and efficiently be enriched using MACS Cytokeratin MicroBeads, e.g. from a frequency of 1 tumor cell in 10⁷ leukocytes to a frequency of 1 tumor cell per 10³ leukocytes. Thus, large patient samples can be narrowed and screened for disseminated tumor cells on only a few microscopy slides. Detection rates of occult tumor cells can be increased to more than 80%^1,2.

Detailed separation procedure
Tumor cells of epithelial origin such as metastatic carcinomas express cytokeratins and can be positively selected by using Anti-Cytokeratin MicroBeads. Cells are permeabilized, fixed, and incubated with Anti-Cytokeratin MicroBeads for direct immunomagnetic labeling of intracellular cytokeratin. The magnetically labeled cells are then enriched using MS or LS Columns.

Downstream applications
Since the separation procedure preserves cell morphology, carcinoma cells can quickly and easily be identified and enumerated by immunocytochemistry, immunofluorescence microscopy, or flow cytometry. Enriched carcinoma cells can also be further analyzed by molecular biology methods. For example, single tumor cells and tumor cell clusters have been enriched for further characterization, e.g. by DNA staining and immunocytochemistry^3,4.

Columns

MS Columns

Further information

Cancer Research Brochure
[PDF; 4,3 MB]

Figure 1

Cytokeratin-positive cells were enriched from bone marrow of a patient with colon carcinoma by using the Carcinoma Cell Enrichment Kit. Cells were stained with Anti-Cytokeratin-FITC and Anti-FITC Alkaline Phosphatase. (Courtesy of Dr. Weihrauch and Dr. Skibowski, Lab of Immunology, University of Cologne, Germany.)

Figure 2

Enrichment of epithelial tumor cells, for example from peripheral blood, using the Carcinoma Cell Enrichment Kit, two MS Columns, and a MiniMACS™ Separator.