The presence of disseminated tumor cells (DTCs) in the bone marrow is associated with poor prognosis of cancer patients. However, little is known about the biology of DTCs due to lack of relevant animal models. Here, we describe the methods for detecting and isolating human DTCs from the murine bone marrow niche by PCR using humanAlusequences and by fluorescence-activated cell sorting and immunohistochemistry using anti-HLA antibody. These strategies could be useful for exploring the biology of DTCs.
