Circulating Tumor Cells

Among the currently important biomarkers, circulating tumor cells and microRNA (miRNA) have received significant attention. The latter, also translated as micro-ribonucleic acid, is a widely present ribonucleic acid (RNA) molecule in eukaryotes, approximately 21 to 23 nucleotides in length, which regulates the expression of other genes. miRNAs originate from RNAs that are transcribed from DNA but cannot be further translated into proteins (classified as non-coding RNA). miRNAs bind to target messenger RNA (mRNA), thereby inhibiting post-transcriptional gene expression, and play important roles in regulating gene expression, the cell cycle, and the timing of biological development.The project will recruit 300 subjects who have been diagnosed with cancer by a physician and for whom the decision has been made to use immunotherapy. Blood samples will be collected before and after treatment (past pathological diagnostic tissues may also be reviewed as required for the study). The study will analyze the differences in the quantity of free microRNAs, the number of circulating tumor cells, and the differences in surface antigen expression in the subjects' blood, as well as the specific surface antigen expression status in the cancer tissues, and perform statistical analysis.

The Cytophone is a first in the world patented system to identify and count single circulating melanoma cells in blood circulation inside the human body. The Cytophone has a unique capability to find rare melanoma cells in the blood by an assessment of 100-500 times greater amounts of blood volume than routine blood tests. The important benefit of the Cytophone diagnosis is that the test does not require injection or any skin incision (i.e., non-invasiveness). The goal of this clinical trial is to demonstrate evidence of the capability of the Cytophone test to indicate a risk of metastasis and define CTC counts that correlate with melanoma recurrence, progression of metastatic disease, and therapy efficacy. The investigators believe that clinical trials will provide evidence that the Cytophone can diagnose risk of melanoma metastasis and recurrence earlier than existing methods.