Multigene reverse transcription-PCR profiling of circulating tumor cells in hormone-refractory prostate cancer.
BACKGROUND
Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) represent a surrogate source of tissue and conceptually represent a "real-time" biopsy. We previously reported that the number of CTCs mirrors disease progression in hormone-refractory prostate cancer (HRPC). To improve characterization of CTCs we further investigated whether in vitro transcription-based multigene reverse transcription-PCR expression profiles could be obtained from CTCs in HRPC.


METHODS
We evaluated the expression of 37 genes with potential utility for epithelial cell characterization from antisense RNA libraries constructed from immunomagnetically enriched CTCs from 7.5-mL blood samples from healthy donors and patients with HRPC.


RESULTS
In the control group 13 of 37 genes were not expressed. The most notable of the genes expressed in CTCs of 23 blood specimens drawn from 9 patients with metastatic prostate cancer were prostate-specific antigen (20 of 23; 87%), prostate-specific membrane antigen (17 of 23; 74%), androgen receptor (16 of 23; 70%), human glandular kallikrein 2 (7 of 23; 30%), epidermal growth factor receptor (4 of 23; 17%), and prostate-specific gene with homology to G protein receptor (2 of 23; 9%). The number of CTCs in these samples ranged from 4 to 283 in 7.5 mL of blood (mean, 87; median, 89). Expression of some of the genes was low in the control samples and higher in the patient samples. In all 23 samples, cytokeratin 19, epithelial cell adhesion molecule, or mucin 1 was expressed. Because of background expression in the controls, expression of 13 of the 37 genes, including HER-2, p53, and BCL-2, could not be measured in CTCs.


CONCLUSIONS
Antisense RNA libraries can be constructed from CTCs and gene expression profiles of CTCs obtained from patients with HRPC. This could enhance the characterization of HRPC and facilitate the development of more effective therapies.
Immunicon Corporation, Huntingdon Valley, PA 19006, USA.
S Mark
SM
O'Hara
Jose G
JG
Moreno
Daniel R
DR
Zweitzig
Steve
S
Gross
Leonard G
LG
Gomella
Leon W M M
LW
Terstappen
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002452:Cell Count; D005260:Female; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D006801:Humans; D018189:Immunomagnetic Separation; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009360:Neoplastic Cells, Circulating / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D010641:Phenotype; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy; D016372:RNA, Antisense / Q000138:chemical synthesis; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000737:chemistry; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D017211:Treatment Failure
D016372:RNA, Antisense; D012333:RNA, Messenger