OBTAINING GENOMIC PROFILES OF SEPARATE CELLS FOR CIRCULATING TUMOR CELLS (CTC) BY METASTASTIC DISEASE TO CHARACTERIZE THE HETEROGENEITY OF DISEASE

摘要

This description relates to a method for detecting the heterogeneity of a disease in a patient with a malignant tumor, including (a) conducting a direct analysis, including immunofluorescent staining and morphological characterization of nucleated cells in a blood sample obtained from a patient, to identify and count circulating tumor cells (CTC); (b) isolation of CTC from the sample; (c) individual characterization of the genomic parameters for obtaining a genomic profile for each of the CTC and (d) determining the heterogeneity of the disease in a patient with a malignant tumor based on this profile. In some embodiments, the malignant tumor is prostate cancer. In some embodiments, the prostate cancer is immune to hormones.