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Previous Volume 351:2452-2454 December 2, 2004 Number 23 Next

	Since this article has no abstract, we have provided an extract of the first 100 words of the full text and any section headings.

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To the Editor: Cristofanilli et al. (Aug. 19 issue)¹ assume that the circulating epithelial cells detected by the CellSearch System are tumor cells. This may be the case in most of the blood samples examined, but a formal proof was not attempted. A recent study showed a cytogenetic relationship — that is, clonality — between circulating epithelial cells and the corresponding primary tumor cells.² It seems mandatory that a molecular genetic characterization of circulating tumor cells be performed to validate a highly sensitive test such as the CellSearch assay.

Michael Fiegl, M.D.
Hubert Denz, M.D.
Academic Natters Hospital
A-6161 Natters, . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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