title: Quantitative relationship of the circulating tumor burden assessed by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction for cytokeratin 19 mRNA in peripheral blood of colorectal cancer patients with Dukes' stage, serum carcinoembryonic antigen level and tumor progression.
abstract: We prospectively analyzed the circulating tumor burden in colorectal cancer patients using semi-quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and cytokeratin 19 (CK19 ). We distinguished the mRNA levels in peripheral blood between 33 patients and 26 healthy controls with reference to SK-BR-3 cell line. We found CEA-mRNA in 88% of patients and 92% of controls, and CK19 mRNA in 64% of patients and 19% of controls. Our CK19 mRNA assay was sufficiently sensitive to detect one SK-BR-3 cell among 10(6) normal blood cells. The upper limit of CK19 mRNA among controls was exceeded by 14 patients, and 12 patients (86%) developed systemic metastases/recurrence. Significantly elevated CK19 mRNA levels appeared to originate from circulating malignant cells (P<0.0001). Of relevance, the CK19 mRNA level increased with advancing Dukes' stage and correlated directly with the serum CEA level (P=0.016). CK19 mRNA quantification may prove valuable for cancer staging and disease monitoring.
authors: Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Prince of Wales Hospital, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong. wkc-mok@wkc.hkcampus.net
authors: I H
authors: IH
authors: Wong
authors: W
authors: W
authors: Yeo
authors: A T
authors: AT
authors: Chan
authors: P J
authors: PJ
authors: Johnson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002272:Carcinoembryonic Antigen / Q000032:analysis*; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007633:Keratins / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D009360:Neoplastic Cells, Circulating; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000097:blood*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D002272:Carcinoembryonic Antigen; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D007633:Keratins