title: Multimarker gene analysis of circulating tumor cells in pancreatic cancer patients: a feasibility study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to develop an immunomagnetic/real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay and assess its clinical value for the molecular detection of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in peripheral blood of pancreatic cancer patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  The presence of CTCs was evaluated in 34 pancreatic cancer patients before systemic therapy and in 40 healthy controls, through immunomagnetic enrichment, using the antibodies BM7 and VU1D9 [targeting mucin 1 and epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM), respectively], followed by real-time RT-PCR analysis of the genes KRT19, MUC1, EPCAM, CEACAM5 and BIRC5.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The developed assay showed high specificity, as none of the healthy controls were found to be positive for the multimarker gene panel. CTCs were detected in 47.1% of the pancreatic cancer patients before the beginning of systemic treatment. Shorter median progression-free survival (PFS) was observed for patients who had at least one detectable tumor-associated transcript, compared with patients who were CTC negative. Median PFS time was 66.0 days [95% confidence interval (CI) 44.8-87.2] for patients with baseline CTC positivity and 138.0 days (95% CI 124.1-151.9) for CTC-negative patients (p = 0.01, log-rank test).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results suggest that in addition to the current prognostic methods, CTC analysis represents a potential complementary tool for prediction of outcome in pancreatic cancer patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany. Andreia.de.Albuquerque@gmail.com
authors.forename: Andreia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: de Albuquerque
authors.forename: Ilja
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kubisch
authors.forename: Georg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Breier
authors.forename: Gudrun
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Stamminger
authors.forename: Nikos
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Fersis
authors.forename: Astrid
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Eichler
authors.forename: Sepp
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kaul
authors.forename: Ulrich
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Stölzel
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism; D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules / Q000378:metabolism; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D000071858:Epithelial Cell Adhesion Molecule; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009360:Neoplastic Cells, Circulating; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics*; D011379:Prognosis; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm; D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules; D000071858:Epithelial Cell Adhesion Molecule