Immunocytochemical detection and characterisation of individual micrometastatic tumour cells

Detection of micrometastases in the bone marrow (BM) of cancer patients may be a helpful method for early detection of relapse. The diverse methodology employed across different laboratories, however, renders comparison of results difficult. This chapter describes a robust reliable system for the immunochemical detection of individual micrometastatic tumour cells from the BM aspirates of patients with solid epithelial tumours, based on the binding of antibody to cytokeratin proteins.