Pelkey T J, Frierson H F, Bruns D E
Department of Pathology, University of Virginia Health Sciences Center, Charlottesville 22908, USA.
Clin Chem. 1996 Sep;42(9):1369-81.
Histological, immunological, and molecular methods have been used for detecting micrometastases from nonhematopoietic malignancies. Early studies utilizing cytological methods to identify circulating tumor cells demonstrated the uncertain significance of micrometastasis detection for predicting eventual recurrent disease. Recently, reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for the detection of circulating tumor cells has been suggested as a potential technique for staging of cancer. Studies using RT-PCR thus far indicate that test results may be negative in some patients with known metastatic disease, thereby raising doubts about the utility of the method for staging of disease. In this review, we survey the relevant literature and discuss the range of current applications of histological, immunological, and molecular methods for detecting micrometastases from solid tumors in blood, bone marrow, and lymph nodes and the progress toward determining the significance of micrometastasis detection.
组织学、免疫学和分子学方法已被用于检测非造血系统恶性肿瘤的微转移。早期利用细胞学方法识别循环肿瘤细胞的研究表明，检测微转移对预测最终复发疾病的意义尚不确定。最近，用于检测循环肿瘤细胞的逆转录聚合酶链反应（RT-PCR）被认为是一种潜在的癌症分期技术。迄今为止，使用RT-PCR的研究表明，在一些已知有转移性疾病的患者中，检测结果可能为阴性，从而引发了对该方法用于疾病分期效用的质疑。在本综述中，我们查阅了相关文献，并讨论了组织学、免疫学和分子学方法在检测血液、骨髓和淋巴结中实体瘤微转移的当前应用范围，以及在确定微转移检测意义方面取得的进展。
