scholarly journals Direct Comparison of Metastasis-Related miRNAs Expression Levels in Circulating Tumor Cells, Corresponding Plasma, and Primary Tumors of Breast Cancer Patients

2016 ◽  
Vol 62 (7) ◽  
pp. 1002-1011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Athina Markou ◽  
Martha Zavridou ◽  
Ioanna Sourvinou ◽  
George Yousef ◽  
Sofia Kounelis ◽  
...  

Abstract BACKGROUND Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and microRNAs (miRNAs) are important in liquid biopsies in which peripheral blood is used to characterize the evolution of solid tumors. We evaluated the expression levels of miR-21, miR-146a, miR-200c, and miR-210 in CTCs of breast cancer patients with verified metastasis and compared their expression levels in corresponding plasma and primary tumors. METHODS Expression levels of the miRNAs were quantified by quantitative reverse transcription PCR (RT-qPCR) in (a) 89 primary breast tumors and 30 noncancerous breast tissues and (b) CTCs and corresponding plasma of 55 patients with metastatic breast cancer and 20 healthy donors. For 30 of these patients, CTCs, corresponding plasma, and primary tumor tissues were available. RESULTS In formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues, these miRNAs were differentially expressed between primary breast tumors and noncancerous breast tissues. miR-21 (P < 0.001) and miR-146a (P = 0.001) were overexpressed, whereas miR-200c (P = 0.004) and miR-210 (P = 0.002) were underexpressed. In multivariate analysis, miR-146a overexpression was significantly [hazard ratio 2.969 (1.231–7.157), P = 0.015] associated with progression-free survival. In peripheral blood, all miRNAs studied were overexpressed in both CTC and corresponding plasma. There was a significant association between miR-21 expression levels in CTCs and plasma for 36 of 55 samples (P = 0.008). In plasma, ROC curve analysis revealed that miR-21, miR-146a, and miR-210 could discriminate patients from healthy individuals. CONCLUSIONS Metastasis-related miRNAs are overexpressed in CTCs and corresponding plasma; miR-21 expression levels highly correlate in CTCs and plasma; and miR-21, miR-146a, and miR-210 are valuable plasma biomarkers for discriminating patients from healthy individuals.

2009 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raquel A. Nunes ◽  
Xiaochun Li ◽  
Soonmo Peter Kang ◽  
Harold Burstein ◽  
Lisa Roberts ◽  
...  

The detection of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in peripheral blood may have important prognostic and predictive implications in breast cancer treatment. A limitation in this field has been the lack of a validated method of accurately measuring CTCs. While sensitivity has improved using RT-PCR, specificity remains a major challenge. The goal of this paper is to present a sensitive and specific methodology of detecting CTCs in women with HER-2-positive metastatic breast cancer, and to examine its role as a marker that tracks disease response during treatment with trastuzumab-containing regimens. The study included patients with HER-2-positive metastatic breast cancer enrolled on two different clinical protocols using a trastuzumab-containing regimen. Serial CTCs were measured at planned time points and clinical correlations were made. Immunomagnetic selection of circulating epithelial cells was used to address the specificity of tumor cell detection using cytokeratin 19 (CK19). In addition, the extracellular domain of the HER-2 protein (HER-2/ECD) was measured to determine if CTCs detected by CK19 accurately reflect tumor burden. The presence of CTCs at first restaging was associated with disease progression. We observed an association between CK19 and HER-2/ECD. The association of HER-2/ECD with clinical response followed a similar pattern to that seen with CK19. Finally, the absence of HER-2/ECD at best overall response and a change of HER-2/ECD from positive at baseline to negative at best overall response was associated with favorable treatment response. Our study supports the prognostic and predictive role of the detection of CTCs in treatment of HER-2-positive metastatic breast cancer patients. The association between CK19 and markers of disease burden is in line with the concept that CTCs may be a reliable measure of tumor cells in the peripheral blood of patients with metastatic breast cancer. The association of CTCs at first restaging with treatment failure indicates that CTCs may have a role as surrogate markers to monitor treatment response.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophia Mastoraki ◽  
Areti Strati ◽  
Eleni Tzanikou ◽  
Eleni Politaki ◽  
George Koutsodontis ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (19) ◽  
pp. 7427
Author(s):  
Iris Garrido-Cano ◽  
Vera Constâncio ◽  
Anna Adam-Artigues ◽  
Ana Lameirinhas ◽  
Soraya Simón ◽  
...  

MicroRNAs have emerged as new diagnostic and therapeutic biomarkers for breast cancer. Herein, we analysed miR-99a-5p expression levels in primary tumours and plasma of breast cancer patients to evaluate its usefulness as a minimally invasive diagnostic biomarker. MiR-99a-5p expression levels were determined by quantitative real-time PCR in three independent cohorts of patients: (I) Discovery cohort: breast cancer tissues (n = 103) and healthy breast tissues (n = 26); (II) Testing cohort: plasma samples from 105 patients and 98 healthy donors; (III) Validation cohort: plasma samples from 89 patients and 85 healthy donors. Our results demonstrated that miR-99a-5p was significantly downregulated in breast cancer tissues compared to healthy breast tissues. Conversely, miR-99a-5p levels were significantly higher in breast cancer patients than in healthy controls in plasma samples from both testing and validation cohorts, and ROC curve analysis revealed that miR-99a-5p has good diagnostic potential even to detect early breast cancer. In conclusion, miR-99a-5p’s deregulated expression distinguished healthy patients from breast cancer patients in two different types of samples (tissues and plasma). Interestingly, expression levels in plasma were significantly lower in healthy controls than in early-stage breast cancer patients. Our findings suggest circulating miR-99a-5p as a novel promising non-invasive biomarker for breast cancer detection.


2007 ◽  
Vol 25 (18_suppl) ◽  
pp. 21013-21013
Author(s):  
F. N. Tanja ◽  
N. Krawczyk ◽  
D. Wallwiener ◽  
S. Becker ◽  
E. Solomayer

21013 Background: The presence of disseminated tumor cells (DTC) in bone marrow (BM) of primary breast cancer patients is associated with poor prognosis. These patients may benefit from adjuvant endocrine therapy since cytotoxic agents are not able to completely eliminate DTCs as previously shown. Only patients with hormone receptor positive breast cancer are eligible for hormonal treatment. The ERa status is routinely defined in primary tumor tissue. However, the ERa status of DTC may differ compared to the primary tumor. Therefore, the aims of this study were (1) to determine the ERa status of DTC in BM of breast cancer patients, (2) and to compare the ERa status of DTC and corresponding primary tumors. Methods: BM aspirates from 251 primary breast cancer patients were included into the study. A double immunofluorescence staining procedure was established for the identification of cytokeratin-positive (CK)/ERa positive cells. ERa status of the primary tumor was immunohistochemically assessed using the same antibody against ERa. Results: In 105 of 251 (42%) breast cancer patients CK-positive cells could be detected in BM. The number of detected cells ranged between 1 and 13 / cells per 2*106 mononuclear cells. Disseminated tumor cells demonstrated ERa positivity in 13 (12%) of these 105 patients. The ERa expression on DTC was heterogeneous in 10 of 13 (79%) patients. Concordance rate of ERa status between primary tumor and DTC was 27%. Only 11 of 83 patients with ER a positive tumors had also ERa positives DTC. Conclusions: (1)The hormone receptor status between primary tumor and corresponding DTC is disconcordant. (2)This discrepancy may explain the rate of non-responders to adjuvant endocrine therapy despite ER-positive primary tumors. (3)These patients may benefit from adjuvant therapy regimens based on antibody strategies or bisphosphonates. No significant financial relationships to disclose.


Breast Cancer ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 195-202 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nahomi Tokudome ◽  
Yoshinori Ito ◽  
Shunji Takahashi ◽  
Kokoro Kobayashi ◽  
Shinichiro Taira ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Mustafa Fadhil ◽  
Omar Abdul- Rasheed ◽  
Manwar Al-Naqqash

Background: During tumor progression, circulating monocytes and macrophages are actively recruited into tumors where they alter the tumor microenvironment to accelerate tumor progression. In response to multiple microenvironmental signals from the tumor and stromal cells, macrophages change their functional phenotypes. Based on their function, macrophages are commonly classified into both, classical M1 and alternative M2 macrophages. M2-like tumor-associated macrophages promote breast tumor growth and survival, and may migrate into the peripheral blood. However, the level of circulating M2/M1-like monocyte ratio in the peripheral blood of breast cancer patients has not been yet clarified. Aim: To compare peripheral blood M2/M1 monocyte ratio among breast cancer patients, benign breast tumor patients and healthy subjects. Also, to investigate the role of peripheral blood M2/M1 monocyte ratio as a circulating breast cancer tumor marker and to asses the validity of this marker in differentiation between benign and malignant breast tumors. Methods: Flow cytometry technique was used to determine the peripheral blood M2/M1 monocyte ratio in three groups of subjects, i.e. 45 patients with breast cancer, 40 patients with benign breast tumor, and 40 healthy subjects as a control group. The results of carbohydrate antigen15-3 (CA15-3) determination were analyzed comparatively. Results: The peripheral blood M2/M1 monocyte ratio in patients with breast cancer (0.27±0.1) was significantly higher (P<0.001) than that in healthy subjects (0.07±0.05) and than in benign tumor subjects (0.08±0.04). The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve of peripheral blood M2/M1 monocyte ratio determination was significantly higher (P≤0.001) than that of CA15-3 levels. Conclusion: M2/M1-like monocyte ratio is of a high diagnostic value for breast cancer and is a promising differentiating marker between benign and breast cancer tumor groups.


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