iCellate

iCellate, as one of very few companies in the World, offers a complete range of label-free CTC analysis from isolation to genetic sequencing in our own laboratory. The freshness of the blood sample is key, with iCellate's solution blood can accurately be analyzed within 48h. What is a circulating tumor cell ( CTC )? Cancer is a broad range of diseases that results in accumulation of abnormal cells (i.e. a tumor). Cancer originates from a single abnormal cell that grows into a primary tumor from which individual cells can spread through the lymphatic system or the blood stream to distant parts of the body and form metastases. he cells that spread the disease to distant organs, where they form metastases, are the circulating tumor cells (CTCs). Metastases are almost always associated with fatal disease. Cancer cells migrate into the lymphatic and blood circulation systems co-opting them as a transportation vehicle to ultimately metastasize to other parts of the body. Once in the blood, the clear majority of the circulating tumor cells fortunately die causing fewer metastases than otherwise (a phenomenon known as metastatic inefficiency), but a few survive. A few of those also attach at distant organs where they may exit the circulation and migrate further into the distant organ site where they may settle down. A few of those dispersed cells may start to grow to ultimately form new spread tumors, metastases. Knowing the numbers and genetic properties of the spreading tumor cells is key to predicting how to treat them.