Circulating Epithelial Tumor Cell Chemosensitivity Testing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for predicting the response of solid epithelial tumors to therapeutic measures are inefficient, particularly for solid tumors, as they require tissue sampling, long cultivation times, and are limited to hematological tumors, leading to potential ineffective treatments.
Innovation Solution
A method involving the use of cell culture medium without added growth factors or serum to isolate and assess the viability of epithelial tumor cells from body fluids, allowing immediate exposure to therapeutic agents and rapid determination of cell death rates, eliminating the need for tissue sampling and long-term cultivation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If tissue sampling and long-term cultivation are used to determine chemosensitivity, then prediction accuracy is improved, but time consumption and procedure complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The method performs chemosensitivity testing on circulating epithelial tumor cells (CETCs) isolated from body fluids before the solid tumor is treated, eliminating the need for long-term cultivation. The CETCs are directly exposed to chemotherapeutic agents and assessed for viability, providing rapid prediction results within days rather than weeks or months.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention extracts and tests circulating epithelial tumor cells (CETCs) from body fluids (blood, lymph, pleural effusion, ascites) separately from the solid tumor tissue. This allows independent chemosensitivity assessment without requiring tissue sampling and long-term in vitro cultivation of solid tumor cells.
2Measurement precision
If tissue sampling is performed to obtain tumor cells for testing, then prediction capability is improved, but patient burden and procedural complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The method extracts circulating epithelial tumor cells (CETCs) from easily obtainable body fluids such as blood, lymph, pleural effusion, or ascites, eliminating the need for invasive solid tumor tissue sampling. This reduces patient burden while maintaining prediction capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention uses body fluids that can be obtained through routine clinical procedures for multiple purposes: diagnostic monitoring, metastasis detection, and chemosensitivity testing. This multi-functional approach eliminates the need for separate tissue sampling procedures.
3Reliability
If long-term cultivation of tumor cells is used to assess chemosensitivity, then treatment prediction reliability is improved, but productivity and treatment timing are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The method performs chemosensitivity testing on circulating epithelial tumor cells (CETCs) in advance of solid tumor treatment, providing reliable prediction results within days rather than requiring months of cell cultivation. This enables timely treatment decisions while maintaining prediction reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention uses circulating epithelial tumor cells (CETCs) that can be rapidly isolated and tested without requiring long-term maintenance in culture. These cells provide sufficient information for chemosensitivity assessment within days, eliminating the need for prolonged cultivation periods.
4Measurement precision
If conventional chemosensitivity testing methods are used for solid tumors, then treatment optimization is improved, but method applicability is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The method uses circulating epithelial tumor cells (CETCs) from body fluids that can be obtained from various clinical situations (blood draws, pleural effusion, ascites, lymph) to perform chemosensitivity testing for solid epithelial tumors. This universal approach applies to multiple tumor types and clinical scenarios where traditional tissue sampling is difficult or impossible.
Data Source
Figure 1
AI summary
The invention relates to a method for predicting the response of a tumour disease in a patient, caused by a solid epithelial tumour, to a therapeutic measure, wherein epithelial tumour cells from a bodily fluid of the patient are taken up in a cell culture medium in each case, wherein the tumour cells from a sample of the cell culture medium containing the tumour cells are exposed to the therapeutic measure, while the tumour cells from a control sample of the cell culture medium containing the tumour cells remain untreated, wherein the proportion of dying-off and dead epithelial tumour cells in the total number of epithelial tumour cells is then determined for the sample and the control sample, respectively, and is used to determine a dying-off rate of the epithelial tumour cells, which is caused by the therapeutic measure, as a measure of the response.