Magnetic Activated Cell Sorting Helps Detect Spread of Cancer Cells

A technique known as magnetic activated cell sorting (MACS) has proven to be a highly sensitive way of detecting the spread of a single cancer cell to the bone marrow of colorectal cancer patients, according to German researchers.

Detection of these hard-to-find micrometastases -- single cancer cells that have escaped from the tissue in which they originated -- is of prognostic significance since they are suggestive of a more advanced colorectal cancer.

Using MACS to study bone marrow from patients who had undergone surgery for newly diagnosed colorectal cancer, the researchers reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology that they found micrometastases in 33 of the 51 patients.

The micrometastases were found in 36 percent of patients with stage I colorectal cancer, 64 percent with stage II diease, 67 percent with stage III disease, and 86 percent with stage IV disease.

"In searching for micrometastases in colorectal cancer patients, we have achieved high detection rates by using MACS," the researchers reported. "The presence of these cells correlated significantly with tumor stage (and) tumor extension."

Other Sources:Journal of Clinical Oncology