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Circulating Giant Macrophages As a Potential Biomarker of Solid Tumors

Overview
Journal Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
Specialty Science
Date 2014 Feb 20
PMID 24550495
Citations 156
Authors
Daniel L Adams
Stuart S Martin
R Katherine Alpaugh
Monica Charpentier
Susan Tsai
Raymond C Bergan
Irene M Ogden
William Catalona
Saranya Chumsri
Cha-Mei Tang
Massimo Cristofanilli
Affiliations
Soon will be listed here.
Abstract

Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) derived from primary tumors are believed to facilitate circulating tumor cell (CTC) seeding of distant metastases, but the mechanisms of these processes are poorly understood. Although many studies have focused on the migration of CTCs, less attention has been given to TAMs that, like CTCs, derive from tumor sites. Using precision microfilters under low-flow conditions, we isolated circulating cancer-associated macrophage-like cells (CAMLs) from the peripheral blood of patients with breast, pancreatic, or prostate cancer. CAMLs, which are not found in healthy individuals, were found to express epithelial, monocytic, and endothelial protein markers and were observed bound to CTCs in circulation. These data support the hypothesis that disseminated TAMs can be used as a biomarker of advanced disease and suggest that they have a participatory role in tumor cell migration.

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