Mehmet Toner

TL;DR: The CTC-chip successfully identified CTCs in the peripheral blood of patients with metastatic lung, prostate, pancreatic, breast and colon cancer in 115 of 116 samples, with a range of 5–1,281CTCs per ml and approximately 50% purity.

TL;DR: A role for EMT in the blood-borne dissemination of human breast cancer is supported as both single cells and multicellular clusters, expressing known EMT regulators, including transforming growth factor (TGF)–β pathway components and the FOXC1 transcription factor.

TL;DR: Using mouse models with tagged mammary tumors, it is demonstrated that CTC clusters arise from oligoclonal tumor cell groupings and not from intravascular aggregation events, and though rare in the circulation, they greatly contribute to the metastatic spread of cancer.

TL;DR: Molecular analysis of circulating tumor cells from the blood of patients with lung cancer offers the possibility of monitoring changes in epithelial tumor genotypes during the course of treatment, and shows that a reduction in the number of captured cells was associated with a radiographic tumor response; an increase in theNumber of cells wasassociated with tumor progression, with the emergence of additional EGFR mutations in some cases.

TL;DR: A high-throughput microfluidic mixing device, the herringbone-chip, or “HB-Chip,” is described, which provides an enhanced platform for CTC isolation and reveals microclusters of CTCs, previously unappreciated tumor cell aggregates that may contribute to the hematogenous dissemination of cancer.