Circulating Tumor Cells Circa 2022

Detecting small numbers of tumor cells is technically challenging, especially for patients with solid tumors, where very small numbers of tumor cells are present in the peripheral blood, even in patients with widely metastatic disease.

In this presentation, Dr. Sabath will describe various technologies for detecting circulating tumor cells and data suggesting clinical utility. In particular, his laboratory's clinical validation of a circulating tumor cell assay using density gradient centrifugation to enrich for circulating tumor cells. Dr. Sabath will also discuss possible future applications of this technology.

Speaker:
Daniel E. Sabath, MD, PhD
University of Washington
Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology

Dr. Sabath directs the Hematology and Coagulation laboratories at the UW Medicine - Montlake campus and Harborview Medical Center, in addition to the Red Cell Disorders Laboratory and Special Coagulation laboratory, both located at Harborview Medical Center. Dr. Sabath is actively involved in the Molecular Hematopathology laboratory operations, with significant signout responsibilities in that area, and current research focuses on detection and characterization of circulating tumor cells.

Dr. Sabath holds degrees of A.B. cum laude in Biochemistry from Harvard College; M.D. from University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and Ph.D. from University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.