[Comparative characteristic of the methods of immunocytochemistry and immunomagnetic separation for detection of cytokeratin-positive cells in bone marrow and lymph nodes].

Comparative study of cytokeratin-positive (CK+) cells, isolated from bone marrow and lymph node micrometastases in patients with lung and esophageal cancer, was performed using the methods of immunocytochemistry and immunomagnetic separation. It was found that immunocytochemical analysis permitted the detection of CK+ cells in the smears of bone marrow of oncologic patients. All the samples of bone marrow with immunocytochemically demonstrated CK+ cells, contained also the cellular complexes marked by magnetic spheres. The method of positive immunomagnetic separation has some advantages for the intraoperative diagnosis. However, when either method was applied, among CK+ cells in bone marrow and lymph nodes some false-positive, questionable cellular forms and hemopoietic cells expressing epithelial markers were found. Theses results suggest that for verification of micrometastases in these organs, an additional study using the standard staining of the slides, is required.