Creatv MicroTech, Inc., Rockville, MD 20850.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2014 Mar 4;111(9):3514-9. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1320198111. Epub 2014 Feb 18.
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.
肿瘤相关巨噬细胞（TAMs）来源于原发性肿瘤，被认为有助于循环肿瘤细胞（CTC）在远处转移部位的播种，但这些过程的机制尚不清楚。尽管许多研究都集中在 CTC 的迁移上，但对于 TAMs 的关注较少，而 TAMs 与 CTC 一样，都来源于肿瘤部位。我们使用精密微滤器在低流速条件下，从患有乳腺癌、胰腺癌或前列腺癌的患者的外周血中分离出循环肿瘤相关巨噬细胞样细胞（CAMLs）。CAMLs 在健康个体中不存在，它们表达上皮、单核细胞和内皮蛋白标志物，并观察到与循环中的 CTC 结合。这些数据支持这样一种假设，即播散的 TAMs 可用作晚期疾病的生物标志物，并表明它们在肿瘤细胞迁移中具有参与作用。
