Appeal No. 2006-2568 Page 3
Application No. 09/744,866
tumor cell through a screen having a mesh or pore width of about
15 to 30 µm to separate non-cancer cells from disseminated tumor
cells, wherein the disseminated tumor cells are retained on the
screen wherein the body fluid is selected from the group consisting
of blood and bone marrow, wherein the disseminated tumor cells
are not modified prior to screening by labeling, by attaching
particles, by triggering aggregation, by triggering cluster formation,
with antibodies, enzymes, lectins, other ligands, other receptors or
cross linking agents or by fixing.
28. A method for isolating disseminated tumor cells from a cell-
containing body fluid, consisting essentially of separating cellular
components from non-cellular components in a body fluid that
comprises a disseminated tumor cell to obtain a cell-containing
fraction; resuspending the cell-containing fraction in a suspension
medium; and passing the resuspended cell-containing fraction
through a screen having a mesh or pore width of about 15 to 30 µm
to separate non-cancer cells from disseminated tumor cells,
wherein the disseminated tumor cells are retained on the screen,
and wherein the body fluid is selected from the group consisting of
blood and bone marrow, wherein the disseminated tumor cells are
not modified prior to screening by labeling, by attaching particles,
by triggering aggregation, by triggering cluster formation, with
antibodies, enzymes, lectins, other ligands, other receptors or cross
linking agents or by fixing.
Thus, claims 24 and 28 are each directed to a method for isolating disseminated
tumor cells from blood or bone marrow. The methods of claims 24 and 28 each involve
passing a cell-containing composition through a screen having a mesh or pore width of
about 15 to 30 µm to separate non-cancer cells from disseminated tumor cells, the
disseminated tumor cells being retained on the screen.
Each of claims 24 and 28 also requires that “the disseminated tumor cells are not
modified prior to screening by labeling, by attaching particles, by triggering aggregation,
by triggering cluster formation, with antibodies, enzymes, lectins, other ligands, other
receptors or cross linking agents or by fixing.” To construe the claims, we give this
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