Circulating tumor cell detection and single-cell analysis using an integrated workflow based on ChimeraX(R)-i120 Platform: A prospective study

Circulating tumor cell (CTC) analysis holds great potential to be a noninvasive solution for clinical cancer management. A complete workflow that combined CTC detection and single-cell molecular analysis is required. We developed the ChimeraX(R)-i120 platform to facilitate negative enrichment, immunofluorescent labeling, and machine learning-based identification of CTCs. Analytical performances were evaluated, and a total of 477 participants were enrolled to validate the clinical feasibility of ChimeraX(R)-i120 CTC detection. We analyzed copy number alteration profiles of isolated single cells. The ChimeraX(R)-i120 platform had high sensitivity, accuracy, and reproducibility for CTC detection. In clinical samples, an average value of > 60% CTC-positive rate was found for five cancer types (i.e., liver, biliary duct, breast, colorectal, and lung), while CTCs were rarely identified in blood from healthy donors. In hepatocellular carcinoma patients treated with curative resection, CTC status was significantly associated with tumor characteristics, prognosis, and treatment response (all P < 0.05). Single-cell sequencing analysis revealed that heterogeneous genomic alteration patterns resided in different cells, patients, and cancers. Our results suggest that the use of this ChimeraX(R)-i120 platform and the integrated workflow has validity as a tool for CTC detection and downstream genomic profiling in the clinical setting.

Automated summary

The ChimeraX(R)-i120 platform successfully combines CTC detection with single-cell molecular analysis, demonstrating high sensitivity, accuracy, and reproducibility. High CTC-positive rates were found in five types of cancer, while CTCs were rarely detected in healthy donors. In hepatocellular carcinoma patients, CTC status was significantly associated with tumor characteristics, prognosis, and treatment response.