Whole blood stabilization for the microfluidic isolation and molecular characterization of circulating tumor cells

We report RNA sequencing data from enriched prostate circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from clinical blood specimens. The goal is to examine the stability of RNA signatures as a function of whole blood preservation. Each blood sample was split into two equal portions; one portion was processed immediately (i.e., 0 hour) for CTC isolation; the other was preserved in 4 deg C, using methods described in this publication, for 24, 48, or 72 hours prior to CTC isolation. CTCs were isolated using the CTC-iChip and processed for RNA sequencing. Blood specimens from a total of four patients were included in this study; for one of the patients, blood was obtained from three different dates and the sample was preserved for different durations. Each patient has a paired 0 hour sample and a preserved sample (indicated as 24, 48, or 72 hours). A total of 12 samples were processed and sequenced.