scholarly journals Longitudinal Analysis of Circulating Tumor Cells in Colorectal Cancer Patients by a Cytological and Molecular Approach: Feasibility and Clinical Application

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Hendricks ◽  
Katharina Dall ◽  
Burkhard Brandt ◽  
Reinhild Geisen ◽  
Christian Röder ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Colorectal Cancer ◽  
Cancer Patients ◽  
Tumor Cells ◽  
Circulating Tumor Cells ◽  
Surgical Resection ◽  
Time Course ◽  
Cancer Diagnostics ◽  
Cytokeratin 20 ◽  
Liquid Biopsies

IntroductionLiquid biopsies allowing for individualized risk stratification of cancer patients have become of high significance in individualized cancer diagnostics and treatment. The detection of circulating tumor cells (CTC) has proven to be highly relevant in risk prediction, e.g., in colorectal cancer (CRC) patients. In this study, we investigate the clinical relevance of longitudinal CTC detection over a course of follow-up after surgical resection of the tumor and correlate these findings with clinico-pathological characteristics.MethodsIn total, 49 patients with histologically proven colorectal carcinoma were recruited for this prospective study. Blood samples were analyzed for CTC presence by two methods: first by marker-dependent immunofluorescence staining combined with automated microscopy with the NYONE® cell imager and additionally, indirectly, by semi-quantitative Cytokeratin-20 (CK20) RT-qPCR. CTC quantification data were compared and correlated with the clinico-pathological parameters.ResultsDetection of CTC over a post-operative time course was feasible with both applied methods. In patients who were pre-operatively negative for CTCs with the NYONE® method or below the cut-off for relative CK20 mRNA expression after analysis by PCR, a statistically significant rise in the immediate post-operative CTC detection could be demonstrated. Further, in the cohort analyzed by PCR, we detected a lower CTC load in patients who were adjuvantly treated with chemotherapy compared to patients in the follow-up subgroup. This finding was contrary to the same patient subset analyzed with the NYONE® for CTC detection.ConclusionOur study investigates the occurrence of CTC in CRC patients after surgical resection of the primary tumor and during postoperative follow-up. The resection of the tumor has an impact on the CTC quantity and the longitudinal CTC analysis supports the significance of CTC as a prognostic biomarker. Future investigations with an even more extended follow-up period and larger patient cohorts will have to validate our results and may help to define an optimal longitudinal sampling scheme for liquid biopsies in the post-operative monitoring of cancer patients to enable tailored therapy concepts for precision medicine.

scholarly journals Functional Studies on Viable Circulating Tumor Cells

2016 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
pp. 328-334 ◽  
Author(s):  
Klaus Pantel ◽  
Catherine Alix-Panabières
Keyword(s):  
Cancer Patients ◽  
Tumor Cells ◽  
Circulating Tumor Cells ◽  
Cancer Diagnostics ◽  
Published Data ◽  
Liquid Biopsies ◽  
In Vivo Models ◽  
Functional Studies

AbstractBACKGROUNDResearch on circulating tumor cells (CTCs) as new biomarkers has received great attention over the past decade. In particular, the capture and analysis of CTCs as “liquid biopsies” provides the possibility to avoid invasive tissue biopsies, with obvious implications in cancer diagnostics.CONTENTThe focus of this review is to describe and discuss how functional studies on viable CTCs can enlarge the spectrum of applications of liquid biopsies, with emphasis on breast, prostate, colon, and lung cancer as the major tumor entities in industrialized countries. The low number of CTCs in the peripheral blood of most cancer patients makes challenging the in vitro culture of CTCs. Epithelial tumor cells are difficult to culture, even when starting with millions of tumor cells. Recently, several groups have achieved important advances in the in vitro and in vivo expansion of CTCs from cancer patients at very advanced stages with higher amounts of CTCs. Here, we present current technologies to enrich and detect viable human CTCs, including positive and negative enrichment strategies that are based on antigen expression and physical properties of CTCs. We also discuss published data about functional studies on CTCs that use in vitro and in vivo models.SUMMARYFunctional analyses on CTCs offer the possibility to identify the biological properties of metastatic cells, including the identification of metastasis-initiating cells. Moreover, CTC-derived cell lines and xenografts might reveal new therapeutic targets and can be used for drug screening.

scholarly journals Circulating Tumor Cells in Gastrointestinal Malignancies: Current Techniques and Clinical Implications

2010 ◽  
Vol 2010 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Georg Lurje ◽  
Marc Schiesser ◽  
Andreas Claudius Hoffmann ◽  
Paul Magnus Schneider
Keyword(s):  
Colorectal Cancer ◽  
Clinical Outcome ◽  
Disease Progression ◽  
Cancer Patients ◽  
Tumor Cells ◽  
Circulating Tumor Cells ◽  
Response To Therapy ◽  
Clinical Implications ◽  
Gastrointestinal Malignancies ◽  
Progression Of Disease

Since their introduction more than 50 years by Engell, circulating tumor cells (CTCs) have been evaluated in cancer patients and their detection has been correlated with clinical outcome, in esophageal, gastric, and colorectal cancer. With the availability of refined technologies, the identification of CTCs from peripheral blood is emerging as a useful tool for the detection of malignancy, monitoring disease progression, and measuring response to therapy. However, increasing evidence suggests a variety of factors to be responsible for disease progression. The analysis of a single CTC marker is therefore unlikely to accurately predict progression of disease with sufficient resolution and reproducibility. Here we discuss the current concept of CTCs, summarize the available techniques for their detection and characterization, and aim to provide a comprehensive update on the clinical implications of CTCs in gastrointestinal (GI) malignancies.

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