title: Monitoring of circulating tumor cells in patients undergoing surgery for hepatic metastases from colorectal cancer.
abstract: The aim of our study was to describe the frequency of occurrence of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in patients undergoing surgery for liver metastases from colorectal cancer in relation to treatment (chemotherapy and surgery). We monitored the presence of CTCs before, during and after surgery.
  
  
  METHODS
  This prospective study involved 14 patients (9 men and 5 women) undergoing surgical resection or termoablation of liver metastases from colorectal carcinoma. Ten of them received chemotherapy before surgery. Samples of central blood (7.5 ml) were drawn preoperatively, at the time of mobilization of the liver during the surgical procedure, immediately after surgery, and at two and seven days postoperatively. CTCs were detected by ColonCancerSelect and ColonCancerDetect kits (AdnaGen, Langenhagen, Germany).
  
  
  RESULTS
  CTCs were detected in three out of 14 patients. For each of the three patients, CTCs were detected via a different gene [tumor-associated antigen GA733-2, carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)]. This demonstrates the heterogeneity of the CTC population among patients. In one patient, we recorded long-term presence of CTCs, in one patient we detected CTCs only during surgery and in one patient we detected CTCs only before surgery. CTC-positive patients are described in the form of case reports.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We detected CTCs only in a minority of patients with liver metastases from colorectal cancer. Observations show that the surgical procedure itself can cause the presence of CTCs in the peripheral blood.
authors: Department of Biology, The Faculty of Medicine in Pilsen, Charles University in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic. martin.pesta@lfp.cuni.cz
authors: Martin
authors: M
authors: Pesta
authors: Jakub
authors: J
authors: Fichtl
authors: Vlastimil
authors: V
authors: Kulda
authors: Ondrej
authors: O
authors: Topolcan
authors: Vladislav
authors: V
authors: Treska
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics; D002272:Carcinoembryonic Antigen / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics; D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D000071858:Epithelial Cell Adhesion Molecule; D066246:ErbB Receptors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000556:secondary / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D009360:Neoplastic Cells, Circulating / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D011379:Prognosis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D002272:Carcinoembryonic Antigen; D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules; C499379:EPCAM protein, human; D000071858:Epithelial Cell Adhesion Molecule; D012333:RNA, Messenger; C512478:EGFR protein, human; D066246:ErbB Receptors
keywords: AdnaGen; Colorectal cancer; circulating tumor cells; liver metastases; tumor markers