Chromosomal aberrations associated with sequential steps of the metastatic cascade in colorectal cancer patients

Genomic profiling of primary colorectal carcinomas was performed in relation to the spread of CTCs in peripheral and hepatic venous blood, liver metastases, and distant metastases beyond the liver, with the intent to identify specific patterns for the different stages of metastatic spread. DNA from primary colorectal tumors was processed according to manufacturers’ protocol (Infinium Assay, Illumina) and hybridized to Illumina Human 610-quad bead-chip, containing 610,000 probes covering the whole genome. Spot intensities were measured using the Illumina Bead Array Reader. Log transformed intensity measurements were processed by circular binary segmentation (CBS) algorithm (Matlab R2015a, The MathWorks) to identify chromosomal aberrations.