title: Detection of brain tumor cells in the peripheral blood by a telomerase promoter-based assay.
abstract: Blood tests to detect circulating tumor cells (CTC) offer great potential to monitor disease status, gauge prognosis, and guide treatment decisions for patients with cancer. For patients with brain tumors, such as aggressive glioblastoma multiforme, CTC assays are needed that do not rely on expression of cancer cell surface biomarkers like epithelial cell adhesion molecules that brain tumors tend to lack. Here, we describe a strategy to detect CTC based on telomerase activity, which is elevated in nearly all tumor cells but not normal cells. This strategy uses an adenoviral detection system that is shown to successfully detect CTC in patients with brain tumors. Clinical data suggest that this assay might assist interpretation of treatment response in patients receiving radiotherapy, for example, to differentiate pseudoprogression from true tumor progression. These results support further development of this assay as a generalized method to detect CTC in patients with cancer.
authors: Authors' Affiliations: Departments of Radiation Oncology and Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
authors: Kelly M
authors: KM
authors: Macarthur
authors: Gary D
authors: GD
authors: Kao
authors: Sanjay
authors: S
authors: Chandrasekaran
authors: Michelle
authors: M
authors: Alonso-Basanta
authors: Christina
authors: C
authors: Chapman
authors: Robert A
authors: RA
authors: Lustig
authors: E Paul
authors: EP
authors: Wileyto
authors: Stephen M
authors: SM
authors: Hahn
authors: Jay F
authors: JF
authors: Dorsey
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000818:Animals; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000201:enzymology / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D005910:Glioma / Q000097:blood* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D064593:Heterografts; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D009360:Neoplastic Cells, Circulating / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D019098:Telomerase / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D023041:Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D019098:Telomerase