title: Detection of circulating tumor cells in patients with gastrointestinal tract cancer using RT-PCR and its clinical implications.
abstract: To investigate the relationship between the presence of circulating tumor cells in different stages of gastrointestinal tract cancer and the subsequent relapse or distant metastasis, circulating levels of CEA mRNA was serially examined at an interval of 10.6+/-4.5 or 13.7+/-3.0 months in gastric or colorectal cancer patients, respectively. CEA mRNA was measured by means of RT-PCR amplification as an indicator for micrometastatic malignant cells. Seven of twenty-nine respectable gastric cancer patients (24.1%) [EGC: 2/9 (22.2%), AGC IIIa: 1/5 (20.0%), AGC IIIb: 4/15 (26.6%)] were positive for CEA mRNA on the initial test and 10 of 29 patients (34.4%) [EGC: 2/ 9 (22.2%), AGC IIIa: 1/5 (20.0%), AGC IIIb: 7/15 (46.7%)] were positive on a follow-up test. Only in AGC IIIb, the positive rate for CEA mRNA increased about twice and 6 of 7 positive cases (85.7%) relapsed within 2.6+/-2.4 months after the follow-up test. In colorectal cancer, 4 of 19 patients (21.1%) [B2: 1/6 (16.7%), C2: 3/13 (23.0%)] were positive on the initial test and 10 of 19 patients (52.6%) [B2: 4/6 (66.7%), C2: 6/13 (46.2%)] were positive on a follow-up test showing an increase in positive rates during a follow-up, however, no significant correlation between CEA mRNA positivity and subsequent relapse was demonstrated. These results suggest that an early tumor cell dissemination may occur in gastrointestinal tract cancer without subsequent relapse, however, the serial regular examination of CEA mRNA level may contribute to predicting a subsequent relapse in AGC IIIb in gastric cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, College of Medicine, Konkuk University, Chungju, Korea.
authors.forename: Y H
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Noh
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: G R
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.forename: Y T
authors.initials: YT
authors.lastname: Ro
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Koo
authors.forename: Y S
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: D S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: H K
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Ahn
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D002272:Carcinoembryonic Antigen / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005770:Gastrointestinal Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D009360:Neoplastic Cells, Circulating; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D002272:Carcinoembryonic Antigen