show notes @ https://thesternmethod.com/circulatingtumorcells/

KEY TAKEAWAYS

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What are CTCs and what do they mean?

• Cells from a collection of cancer cells, tumor or metastatic deposit
• Sometime seen on scans but not always
• Circulate in the blood or lymphatic tissues
• Can only test for the CTC in blood. Need biopsy to detect in lymphatic tissue
• The presence of CTCs doesn't necessarily indicate metastatic cancer
• CTCs don't live very long in the blood – persistent CTC is cause for concern

  Cancer spreads in two ways

• Metastasize (means "evil spread") - cells travel via blood vessels
• Direct invasion - cells invade the tissues and then access lymphatic system or blood stream

  What to look for in CTC testing

• Only available for certain cancers – ovarian, pancreatic, colon, lung, breast, prostate
• Looking for two different populations of CTCs- cytokeratin(CK)-positive and CK-negative
  • ➔ CK is an anchor molecule for cells
  • ➔ CK-negative cells are cells that have down regulated their CK and can leave the

    tissue space to 'circulate' as a CTC

  • ➔ CK-positive cells are rarely found in CTC tests unless through trauma or if the tumor is invasive
  • ➔ CK-negative cells can revert back to CK-positive and "anchor in" to a new tissue site
• Test results provide highly individual information about that person's specific tumor
• Can also see some markers you'd see on pathology specimens - things that sit on the surface of cells such as androgen and estrogen receptors

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1. When to test for CTCs
   • At diagnosis and before treatment, when cancer is the highest
   • During treatment to gauge therapeutic response
   • Post treatment testing to determine if cancer is still present or to identify recurrences
2. What to do with CTC test results
   • Depends on the patient – their history, the cancer, how aggressive, treatment proto- cols undertaken. Every situation/person is different
   • Run other lab tests to look at supporting factors in the blood and fix those: ➔ Inflammatory markers ➔ Cell markers ➔ Immune markers

     ➔ Tissue markers

     ➔ Hormones

     ➔ Tissues at risk – liver, lung, bones

     ➔ Nutrient levels

     ➔ Vitamin D – 25-Hydroxy and 1,25-Dihydroxy

     ➔ Look at lifestyle – diet, toxins, air, water

   • Goal is to shut down the flow of CTC into the blood

     CASE STUDIES / CLINICAL EXAMPLES / DIAGNOSES REFERENCED

     Breast cancer Colon cancer Lung cancer Ovarian cancer Pancreatic cancer Prostate cancer

     STUDIES / ARTICLES / CLINICAL TRIALS REFERENCED

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BOOKS REFERENCED

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SUPPLEMENTS REFERENCED

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THERAPIES REFERENCED

IV Vitamin C IV Quercetin Mistletoe therapy

OTHER RESOURCES

Biocept

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