BACKGROUND/AIM: The presence of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in the peripheral blood of patients with solid tumors is associated with a poor prognosis. However, there are limited data concerning the detection of CTCs in endometrial cancer (EC). The aim of this study was to evaluate the presence of CTCs in the peripheral blood of patients with EC. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Peripheral blood samples from 92 patients who underwent a surgical procedure were evaluated using MetaCell® separation technology for CTCs. RESULTS: CTCs were detected in 69 (75%) patients with EC. CONCLUSION: CTCs were detected in a higher percentage of patients than in other studies. The results showed that the technology applied in this study can efficiently capture viable tumor cells in the blood that can be cultured while maintaining their original phenotype. This paper discusses the first successful culturing of human circulating endometrial cancer cells for further downstream functional and molecular characterization.

3rd Department of Surgery University Hospital Motol and 1st Faculty of Medicine Charles University Prague Czech Republic

Department of Gynecology Military University Hospital and 3 Faculty of Medicine Charles University Prague Czech Republic

Department of Histology and Embryology Wroclaw Medical University Wroclaw Poland

Department of Laboratory Genetics University Hospital Kralovske Vinohrady Prague Czech Republic

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital Liberec Liberec Czech Republic

Department of Thoracic Surgery Lower Silesian Cancer Center Wroclaw Poland

Department of Thoracic Surgery Masaryk's Hospital Usti nad Labem Czech Republic

Division of Surgical Oncology Gynaecological Oncology and Department of Oncology Lower Silesian Cancer Center and Wroclaw Medical University Wroclaw Poland

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Circulating tumor cell-derived preclinical models: current status and future perspectives