Circulating Tumor Cells Detection and Counting in Uveal Melanomas by a Filtration-Based Method

Cancers

Cinzia Mazzini¹  Pamela Pinzani²  Francesca Salvianti²  Cristian Scatena¹  Milena Paglierani¹  Francesca Ucci¹  Mario Pazzagli² 

[1]Department of Translational Medicine and Surgery, Università di Firenze, Firenze 50134, Italy

[2] E-Mails:

[3]Department of Biomedical, Experimental and Clinical Sciences, Università di Firenze, Firenze 50139, Italy

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关键词: CTC;    circulating tumor microemboli (CTM);    tumor marker;    liquid biopsy;    ISET;   

DOI  :  10.3390/cancers6010323

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Uveal melanoma is one of the most deadly diseases in ophthalmology for which markers able to predict the appearance of metastasis are needed. The study investigates the role of circulating tumor cells (CTC) as a prognostic factor in this disease. We report the detection of circulating tumor cells by Isolation by Size of Epithelial Tumor cells (ISET) in a cohort of 31 uveal melanoma patients: we identified single CTCs or clusters of cells in 17 patients, while the control population, subjects with choroidal nevi, showed no CTC in peripheral blood. The presence of CTCs did not correlate with any clinical and pathological parameter, such as tumor larger basal diameter (LBD), tumor height and TNM. By stratifying patients in groups on the basis of the number of CTC (lower or higher than 10 CTC per 10 mL blood) and the presence of CTC clusters we found a significant difference in LBD (p = 0.019), Tumor height (p = 0.048), disease-free and overall survival (p < 0.05). In conclusion, we confirm the role of CTC as a negative prognostic marker in uveal melanoma patients after a long follow-up period. Further characterization of CTC will help understanding uveal melanoma metastasization and improve patient management.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.