title: Prognostic value of circulating tumor cells in nonmuscle invasive bladder cancer: a CellSearch analysis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) provide prognostic information in patients with metastatic tumors. Recent studies have shown that CTCs are released in circulation in an early phase of cancer disease so that their presence is under investigation in the adjuvant setting. Few studies investigated the prognostic significance of CTCs enumeration in patients with metastatic and advanced bladder cancer. The current study has analyzed the presence of CTC in patients with nonmuscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC).
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty-four NMIBC patients were enrolled and included in a 24-month follow-up program. Blood drawings were carried out in all patients at the first diagnosis. CellSearch system (Veridex; LLC, Raritan, NJ) was used for CTCs enumeration.
  
  
  RESULTS
  CTC were detectable in 8/44 patients (18%). Presence of CTC was found significantly associated to shorter time to first recurrence (6.5 versus 21.7 months, P < 0.001). Median time to progression was not reached, due to the short follow-up period. CTC presence was found associated to concomitant carcinoma in situ and higher T category.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The detection of CTC in this setting of disease may allow to distinguish patients with high risk of recurrence from those with high risk of progression, as well as to early identify patients candidate for adjuvant treatment.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Molecular Medicine. Electronic address: paola.gazzaniga@uniroma1.it.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gazzaniga
authors.affiliation: Departments of Molecular Medicine.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gradilone
authors.affiliation: Departments of Gynecology, Obstetrics and Urological Sciences, Division of Urology, Sapienza University, Rome.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: de Berardinis
authors.affiliation: Departments of Gynecology, Obstetrics and Urological Sciences, Division of Urology, Sapienza University, Rome.
authors.forename: G M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Busetto
authors.affiliation: Departments of Molecular Medicine.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Raimondi
authors.affiliation: Departments of Molecular Medicine.
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Gandini
authors.affiliation: Departments of Molecular Medicine.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Nicolazzo
authors.affiliation: Departments of Molecular Medicine.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Petracca
authors.affiliation: Division of Medical Oncology, Campus Biomedico University, Rome.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Vincenzi
authors.affiliation: Departments of Public Health and Infectious Diseases.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Farcomeni
authors.affiliation: Departments of Gynecology, Obstetrics and Urological Sciences, Division of Urology, Sapienza University, Rome.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Gentile
authors.affiliation: Radiological, Oncological and Pathological Sciences, Division of Oncology, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cortesi
authors.affiliation: Departments of Molecular Medicine.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Frati
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002295:Carcinoma, Transitional Cell / Q000473:pathology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002452:Cell Count; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D018189:Immunomagnetic Separation; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D009360:Neoplastic Cells, Circulating / Q000473:pathology*; D011379:Prognosis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D001749:Urinary Bladder Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*