Disseminated Tumour Cells (DTC) in Left Sided Colorectal Cancer (LSCC).

Pelleted cells from bone marrow samples were incubated with an excessive amount of lysing solution for 10 min, repeated 3-4 times to remove erythrocytes. The slides were dried, fixed with a mixture of ethanol and acetone (1 : 1 v v-1), and then stained for 30 min with A45-B/B3 monoclonal antibodies (5 μg ml-1) (Micromet GmbH, Germany), which recognise common epitopes of cytokeratins (CK) including CK 8, 18 and 19.