Circulating Tumor Cells and Melanoma: Comparing the EPISPOT and CellSearch Techniques

The secondary objectives of this study include:

A. To compare the following elements between the two patient groups:

• the number of CMCs per ml of blood as determined by EPISPOT
• the number of CMCs per ml of blood as determined by CellSearch
• the percentage of patients with at least 2 CMCs per ml of blood according to the two techniques
• the % of CMCs expressing KI67
• the % of CMCs expressions S100 (only the EPISPOT technique)

B. To compare the EPISPOT and CellSearch techniques is terms of the following:

• the number of CMCs detected per ml blood
• the number of CMCs expressing antigen KI67

C. To re-evaluate the 2-CMC per ml blood threshold

Inclusion criteria

• The patient must have given his/her informed and signed consent
• The patient must be insured or beneficiary of a health insurance plan
• The patient is available, within the hours of his/her normally scheduled medical care, for blood sampling at 8 am and 4 pm on the same day.

Inclusion criteria

for patients:

• Stage 4 melanoma, without other associated neoplasms

Inclusion criteria

for controls:

• Patient without cancer, nor history of cancer

Exclusion criteria

• The patient is participating in another study
• The patient is in an exclusion period determined by a previous study
• The patient is under judicial protection, under tutorship or curatorship
• The patient refuses to sign the consent
• It is impossible to correctly inform the patient
• The patient is pregnant, parturient, or breastfeeding
• The patient has a contra-indication for a treatment used in this study

Exclusion criteria

for patients:

• Stage 1 to 3 melanoma, or other types of cancer

Exclusion criteria

for controls:

• History of cancer