Evaluation of Circulating Tumor Cells and Related Events as Prognostic Factors and Surrogate Biomarkers in Advanced NSCLC Patients Receiving First-Line Systemic Treatment

Cancers

Laura Muinelo-Romay¹  Maria Vieito¹  Alicia Abalo¹  Marta Alonso Nocelo¹  Francisco Barón¹  Urbano Anido¹  Elena Brozos¹  Francisca Vázquez¹  Santiago Aguín¹  Miguel Abal¹ 

[1] Translational Medical Oncology, Health Research Institute of Santiago (IDIS), Complexo Hospitalario Universitario de Santiago de Compostela (SERGAS), Trav. Choupana s/n 15706 Santiago de Compostela, Spain;

关键词: non-small cell lung cancer;    circulating tumour cells (CTC);    prognostic biomarker;    CellSearch;   

DOI  :  10.3390/cancers6010153

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

In the present study we investigated the prognostic value of Circulating Tumour Cells (CTC) and their utility for therapy monitoring in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). A total of 43 patients newly diagnosed with NSCLC were prospectively enrolled. Blood samples were obtained before the 1st, 2nd and 5th cycles of chemotherapy and analyzed using CellSearch technology. Both CTC and CTC-related objects (not morphological standard or broken epithelial cells) were counted. At baseline 18 (41.9%) patients were positive for intact CTC count and 10 (23.2%) of them had ≥5 CTC, while CK positive events were found in 79.1% of patients. The group of patients with CTC ≥5 at baseline presented worse PFS and OS than those with <5 CTC (p = 0.034 and p = 0.008, respectively). Additionally, high levels of total CK positive events were associated with poor prognosis in the group of patients with <5 CTC. Regarding therapy monitoring, patients presenting increased levels of CTC during the treatment demonstrated lower OS and PFS rates. All these data supported the value of CTC as a prognostic biomarker and as a surrogate indicator of chemotherapy effectiveness in advanced NSCLC patients, with the additional value of analyzing other “objects” such as apoptotic CTC or CK fragments to guide the clinical management of these patients.

【 授权许可】

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