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Updated: Nov 9, 2025
Rapid Isolation of Viable Circulating Tumor Cells from Patient Blood Samples
Published on: June 15, 2012
Isolation and morphology of circulating tumor cells by cell block technique in breast cancer
Nandini Agrawal1, Rajpal S Punia1, Uma Handa1
1Department of Pathology, Government Medical College and Hospital, Chandigarh, India.
Background:
Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are cells present in the blood stream that are antigenically or genetically similar to a specific tumor type and are markers of tumor diagnosis, prognosis, residual disease and metastasis. The ever-increasing burden of breast cancer globally warrants the incorporation of this all-inclusive marker in the diagnostic repertoire using the simplest of techniques.
Aims:
To identify CTCs in peripheral blood by cell block (CB) technique in cases of breast cancer diagnosed on fine-needle aspiration (FNA) or core needle biopsy (CNB) and to correlate their presence with nodal metastasis.
Material And Methods:
This study was conducted in the Department of Pathology, at a tertiary care hospital. Peripheral blood samples from a total of 30 cases of primary breast carcinoma diagnosed on FNA or CNB without prior neoadjuvant chemotherapy were analyzed using the CB technique.
Results:
The age ranged between 29-74 years with the most common presenting complaint being a palpable, single, unilateral breast lump. CTCs were detected in 2 (6.7%) cases with a <5 cell cluster with both the cases being grade I breast carcinomas and also displaying nodal metastasis.
