The detection of disseminated tumor cells in bone marrow and peripheral blood of gastric cancer patients by multimarker (CEA, CK20, TFF1 and MUC2) quantitative real-time PCR.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the suitability of multimarker detection of DTCs in PB and BM of GC patients.


METHODS
A qRT-PCR assay was developed to estimate the number of CEA, CK20, TFF1 and MUC2 transcripts in PB and BM samples of 35 GC patients prior to the initiation of therapy. PB samples from healthy volunteers and BM from patients with hematological malignancies were used as negative controls.


RESULTS
In PB analysis; 22.9%, 37.1%, 31.4%, and 22.9% of GC patients and in BM analysis; 20%, 28.6%, 45.7%, and 22.9% of GC patients were positive for CEA, CK20, TFF1 and MUC2 mRNAs, respectively. Samples from the control group were negative for the expression of all the markers tested in this study. A higher positive ratio was obtained with the multimarker detection in comparison to the single marker detection. There was a significant correlation between the PB and BM samples for DTC detection.


CONCLUSIONS
Multimarker detection assay is a reliable and powerful tool for the early detection of DTCs in GC patients.
Hematology, Oncology and Stem Cell Transplantation Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
L
L
Dardaei
R
R
Shahsavani
A
A
Ghavamzadeh
M
M
Behmanesh
E
E
Aslankoohi
K
K
Alimoghaddam
S H
SH
Ghaffari
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D002272:Carcinoembryonic Antigen / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000737:chemistry; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D053554:Keratin-20 / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D055262:Mucin-2 / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics; D058885:Multilocus Sequence Typing / Q000379:methods*; D009360:Neoplastic Cells, Circulating / Q000378:metabolism; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012334:RNA, Neoplasm / Q000097:blood; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology*; D000071163:Trefoil Factor-1; D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D002272:Carcinoembryonic Antigen; D017931:DNA Primers; D053554:Keratin-20; C524625:MUC2 protein, human; D055262:Mucin-2; D012334:RNA, Neoplasm; C051838:TFF1 protein, human; D000071163:Trefoil Factor-1; D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins