The Significance of the Leucocyte Concentrate in the Demonstration of Tumour Cells in the Blood

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Abstract
In the literature concerning the demonstration of tumor cells in the blood the percentages of positive results show no agreement. This paper describes a simple method of demonstrating tumor cells in the blood. Using this method, by which erythrocytes can be largely eliminated from the blood, thus concentrating the leukocytes, tumor cells were demonstrated in a few of 107 patients with a malignant tumor. The group consisted of 7 patients with a localized carcinoma, 50 with advanced carcinoma and 50 with Hodgkin''s disease. The leukocyte concentrates relatively often contained atypical, but non-malignant cells. Very probably, these atypical cells have been mistaken for tumor cells in the past.