METHODS AND KITS FOR THE DETECTION OF CIRCULATING TUMOR CELLS IN PANCREATIC PATIENTS USING POLYSPECIFIC CAPTURE AND COCKTAIL DETECTION REAGENTS

A highly sensitive assay is disclosed which combines immunomagnetic enrichment with multiparameter flow cytometric or image cytometry to detect, enumerate and characterize carcinoma cells in the blood. The present invention incorporates the conjugation of different antibodies to the same ferrofluid. This has the effect of making the ferrofluid polyspecific with respect to the antigens that the ferrofluid will bind. The multiple antibodies present on the same ferrofluid do not appear to block or otherwise interfere with each other. Such ferrofluids have the highly desirable effect of being able to bind specifically to more than one type of cell. The assay is especially useful to enable the capture of CTCs that have low EpCAM expression, but high expression of other tumor markers; Accordingly, the assay facilitates the biological characterization and staging of carcinoma cells.