The supplement to biopsy

https://www.datarpgx.de/trublood/

TruBlood is a minimally invasive, diagnostic test that can clearly identify cancer in symptomatic patients. TruBlood provides diagnostic information similar to that of a tissue biopsy when it is inconclusive or not possible. Based on the test result, therapy can be aligned.

About TruBlood

TruBlood was developed by Datar Cancer Genetics based on the results of several clinical studies and validated on more than 40,000 samples. These included samples from asymptomatic subjects undergoing screening tests such as mammograms, colonoscopies, PAP smears, serum CA markers and other clinical examinations, as well as more than 17,000 samples from patients with various cancers and patients with benign diseases.

TruBlood basics

• Tumours release thousands of cells into the circulation, where circulating tumour cells (CTCs) survive for about 1 - 2.5 hours.
• In order to detach from the primary tumour and disseminate into the blood, cells must undergo a cellular process known as Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition (EMT).
• EMT enhances the migratory capabilities of tumour cells, which allows cells to penetrate the vasculature and circulate as single or clusters of circulating tumour cells.
• CTCs extravasate having undergone the reverse process known as Mesenchymal to Epithelial Transition (MET) and can colonise at distant organs.
• CTCs are defined as EpCAM (+), PanCK (+), CD45 (-) cells. Circulating tumour-associated cells (C-TACs) are EpCAM (+), PanCK (+), CD45 (+/-) cells of tumourigenic origin in peripheral blood.
• Non-tumourigenic cells in peripheral blood have functional apoptotic mechanisms, but CTCs and C-TACs are resistant to apoptosis.
• An epigenetically active stabilising process can eliminate normal cells and confer survival privileges on apoptosis-resistant CTCs and C-TACs.
• Sufficient C-TACs can be enriched and harvested for immunocytochemistry (ICC) profiling with markers used in immunohisto-chemistry (IHC) which aid in the determination of histopathological subtypes of tumour tissue.
• To increase the sensitivity of the method, circulating free DNA (cfDNA) is examined at the same time. In very rare cases, no CTCs but cfDNA can be found, which leads to a positive result. However, cfDNA alone cannot provide any indication regarding the origin of the tumor disease.

Sample collection

Requirements: 3 tubes containing 30 ml whole blood

Blood draw: 2 EDTA tubes (purple colour cap) - 2 x 10 ml and 1 STRECK tube - 1 x 10 ml

Precautions:

• The patient should remain fasting for the last 6 hours before the blood sample is taken. The intake of liquids is permitted.
• The patient has not received a blood transfusion / PET-CT / CT scan at least 5 days before the collection of the sample.
• A detailed report on the patient's current situation is required.