Identification of Atypical Circulating Tumor Cells with Prognostic Value in Metastatic Breast Cancer Patients

Cancers

Anthony Goncalves¹  Emilie Mamessier²  Daniel Birnbaum²  Claire Acquaviva²  Pascal Finetti²  Séverine Garnier²  Arnaud Guille²  Quentin Da Costa²  Emilie Denicolai²  Maria Lucia Liberatoscioli²  Alexandre de Nonneville²  Anaïs Aulas²  Olivier Cabaud²  François Bertucci²  Laurys Boudin²  Alexia Lopresti²  Jihane Pakradouni³ 

[1] Department of Medical Oncology, Institut Paoli-Calmettes, 13009 Marseille, France;Laboratory of Predictive Oncology, Cancer Research Center of Marseille, Inserm U1068—CNRS UMR7258—Université Aix-Marseille UM105, Label “Ligue Contre le Cancer”, 13009 Marseille, France;Sponsor Unit, Department of Clinical Research and Innovation, Institut Paoli-Calmettes, 13009 Marseille, France;

关键词: circulating tumor cells;    breast cancer;    metastases;    epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition;    plasticity;    biomarker;   

DOI  :  10.3390/cancers14040932

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Circulating tumor cells have a strong potential as a quasi-non-invasive tool for setting up a precision medicine strategy for cancer patients. Using a second-generation “filtration-based” technology to isolate CTCs, the Screencell™ technology (Sarcelles, France), we performed a large and simultaneous analysis of all atypical circulating tumor cells (aCTCs) isolated from the blood of metastatic breast cancer (mBC) patients. We correlated their presence with clinicopathological and survival data. We included 91 mBC patients from the PERMED-01 study. The median number of aCTCs was 8.3 per mL of blood. Three subsets of aCTCs, absent from controls, were observed in patients: single (s-aCTCs), circulating tumor micro-emboli (CTM), and giant-aCTCs (g-aCTCs). The presence of g-aCTCs was associated with shorter progression free survival and overall survival. This study highlights the heterogeneity of aCTCs in mBC patients both at the cytomorphological and molecular levels. In addition, it suggests the usefulness of the g-aCTC subset as a prognostic factor and a potential stratification tool to treat late-stage mBC patients and improve their chances of benefiting from early clinical trials.

【 授权许可】

Unknown