Detection of micrometastases in bone marrow and lymph nodes of cancer patients using the method of immunomagnetic separation

The purpose of the study was to detect micro-metastases in bone marrow and lymph nodes of lung and esophagus cancer patients using the method of magnetic separation with magnetic balls covered with antibodies to cytokeratins. The method has been found to allow the enriched fraction of cytokine-positive cells to be obtained and it can be used for intraoperative diagnosis of micro-metastases. However, cytological examination shows that not all detected cells with magnetic balls fixed on their membranes can be verified as tumor cells. To verify more exactly micro-metastases in bone marrow and lymph nodes of cancer patients, it is necessary to conduct the additional standard staining and cytological analysis of cells detected by the method of positive magnetic selection.