scholarly journals CIRCULATING TUMOR CELLS: CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE IN BREAST CANCER (REVIEW)

2017 ◽  
Vol 72 (6) ◽  
pp. 450-457 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. V. Kaigorodova
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Stem Cells ◽  
Tumor Cells ◽  
Circulating Tumor Cells ◽  
Clinical Significance ◽  
Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Clinical Importance ◽  
Metastatic Breast ◽  
Mesenchymal Transition

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) constitute a heterogeneous population. Some tumor cells are cancer stem cells (CSCs), while others are in the process of the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT); however, most CTCs are neither stem cells nor participants in the EMT. There is increasing interest in the study of the molecular biological characteristics of CTCs. Many researchers consider circulating tumor cells (CTC) as one of the variants of «liquid biopsy in real time». In this review, we discuss the clinical significance of CTCs in breast cancer and in particular the prognostic and predictive significance both in early stage and metastatic breast cancer, as well as the pathogenetic role of CTCs in venous thromboembolism. Evaluation of various characteristics of CTCs is promising for the study of new biomarkers and targets for targeted therapies. The clinical importance involves the determination of the heterogeneity of the CТC and in particular of the stem subpopulation of these cells, cells with signs of EMТ, with no evidence of stem cells, and with a combination of these features.

scholarly journals Expression of Stem Cell and Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition Markers in Circulating Tumor Cells of Breast Cancer Patients

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalia Krawczyk ◽  
Franziska Meier-Stiegen ◽  
Malgorzata Banys ◽  
Hans Neubauer ◽  
Eugen Ruckhaeberle ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Stem Cell ◽  
Tumor Cells ◽  
Circulating Tumor Cells ◽  
Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition ◽  
Metastatic Breast ◽  
Current Data ◽  
Stem Cell Markers ◽  
Breast Cancer Patients ◽  
Mesenchymal Transition

Evaluation and characterization of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) have become a major focus of translational cancer research. Presence of CTCs predicts worse clinical outcome in early and metastatic breast cancer. Whether all cells from the primary tumor have potential to disseminate and form subsequent metastasis remains unclear. As part of the metastatic cascade, tumor cells lose their cell-to-cell adhesion and undergo epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in order to enter blood circulation. During EMT epithelial antigens are downregulated; thus, such tumor cells might elude classical epithelial marker-based detection. Several researchers postulated that some CTCs express stem cell-like phenotype; this might lead to chemoresistance and enhanced metastatic potential of such cells. In the present review, we discuss current data on EMT and stem cell markers in CTCs of breast cancer and their clinical significance.

Evaluation of risk recurrence in early breast cancer assessed by Oncotype DX and tumor cell dissemination to blood and bone marrow.

2013 ◽  
Vol 31 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. e11516-e11516
Author(s):  
Bahriye Aktas ◽  
Agnes Bankfalvi ◽  
Martin Leonhard Heubner ◽  
Rainer Kimmig ◽  
Sabine Kasimir-Bauer
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Bone Marrow ◽  
Statistical Analysis ◽  
Tumor Cells ◽  
Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Tissue Samples ◽  
Mesenchymal Transition ◽  
Genomic Test

e11516 Background: The OncotypeDX assay is a validated genomic test that predicts the likelihood of breast cancer (BC) recurrence, patients’ (pts) survival within 10 years of diagnosis and benefit of chemotherapy in early-stage, N0, ER-pos BC. In addition, disseminated tumor cells (DTC) in the bone marrow (BM) and circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in blood, especially stemness like tumor cells (slCTCs) including cells being able to perform epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), have been associated with worse outcome in BC. Here we use OncotypeDX as well as the presence of DTCs, CTCs and slCTCs to evaluate the risk for recurrence in early BC pts. Methods: In total, 90 pts with newly diagnosed HER2-neg early stage BC received breast conserving surgery and sentinel lymphonodectomy. 17 pts were ER-/PR-, 12 pts ER+/PR-, 3 pts ER-/PR+ and 59 pts were ER+/PR+. Analysis of OncotypeDX and KI67 were performed. In case of G2 tumors, UPA and PAI1 were determined as further proliferation markers in tissue samples. Two BM aspirates from these patients were analyzed by immunocytochemistry for DTCs using the pan-cytokeratin antibody A45-B/B3. Furthermore, 2 x5 ml blood were analyzed for CTCs with the AdnaTest BreastCancer for the detection of EpCAM, MUC-1, HER-2, and beta-Actin transcripts. The recovered c-DNA was additionally multiplex tested for the presence of slCTCs using the AdnaTest EMT (multiplex RT-PCR for TWIST, AKT2, PI3K), and the AdnaTest TumorStemCell (ALDH1). Results: OncotypeDX was performed in 68/91 cases. 30/68 pts (44%) had a low RS, 29/68 pts (43%) an intermediate RS and 9/68 pts (13%) a high RS, respectively. BM aspiration could be performed in 70/91 pts with a positivity rate of 34% (24/70) for DTCs. CTCs were detected in 16/68 (25%) evaluable pts and slCTCs in 27/62 (44%) pts, respectively. In preliminary statistical analysis, KI67, PR and grading are showing association to RS as well as the presence of slCTCs. Tissue samples of patients with G2 tumors (N=65) underwent evaluation for UPA/PAI1analysis. Conclusions: Final statistical analysis for the complete data set including correlations to RS with all evaluable parameter will be available for presentation at the ASCO.

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