P-138CIRCULATING TUMOUR CELLS IN THORACIC MALIGNANCIES: SEPARATION AND CULTIVATION IN VITRO

Objectives: Circulating tumour cells (CTCs) in peripheral blood are important targets for treatment, and critical surrogate markers for evaluating cancer prognosis and therapeutic response. The high sensitive methodology to detect CTCs in patients with thoracic malignancies is needed. In this study we demonstrate a methodology for enrichment, separation and cultivation of CTCs. Methods: Patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and oesophageal cancer (EC), and malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) were enrolled into the study. Peripheral blood samples were collected before surgery. A new size-based separation test for detection and cultivation of CTCs was used (MetaCell®). Results: CTCs were detected in 59% patients with EC (n = 27/46), in 64% with NSCLC (n = 32/50) and in 80% patients (n = 4/5) with MPM. A successful capture of the viable CTCs was followed by their subsequent cultivation in vitro in all three types of cancers. Conclusions: The overall size-based filtration approach enabled to capture viable CTCs. The CTCs were cultured in vitro for further downstream applications, e.g. immunohistochemical analysis, which has been directed to prove the epithelial origin of the captured cells. We are describing for the first time successful cultivation of EC, NSCLC and MPM CTCs. Disclosure: No significant relationships.