title: Detection of circulating tumor cells in patients with breast cancer using the quantitative RT-PCR assay for monitoring of therapy efficacy.
abstract: Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are an independent prognostic factor for patients with breast cancer. However, the role of CTCs in early breast cancer management is not yet clearly defined. The aim of this study was to isolate and characterize CTCs in blood sample of a breast cancer patient as a biomarker for monitoring treatments efficacy. In this study, 692 blood samples from 221 breast cancer patients and 376 healthy individuals was used to detect CTCs with multiple markers including epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM), cytokeratin (CK) 19, human epidermal growth factor (HER) 2, Ki67, human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT), and vimentin using quantitative reverse transcription PCR (RT-qPCR). A total of 153 (69.2%) blood samples of 221 patients with breast cancer were found to be positive for at least one of the cancer-associated marker gene before treatment. After chemotherapy, no CTCs were found in 28 (33.3%) of the 84 blood samples analyzed for the presence of CTCs using the RT-qPCR, whereas 56 (66.7%) blood samples were still found to be positive for at least one of the markers. After completing the therapy, the CTC positivity rate decreased to 7 (20.6%) in the neoadjuvant group, whereas this increased to 7 (14%) cases in the adjuvant group. There was no statistically significant relationship between TNM stage and detection of CTC-related markers. Data from this study suggest that RT-qPCR assay for the detection of CTC markers might be useful in selecting appropriate therapeutics and for monitoring treatment efficacy in breast cancer patients.
authors.affiliation: M&D, Inc., Wonju Eco Environmental Technology Center, Wonju, Gangwon, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Hye-young
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Laboratory Science, College of Health Sciences, Yonsei University, Wonju, Gangwon, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Sungwoo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ahn
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Laboratory Science, College of Health Sciences, Yonsei University, Wonju, Gangwon, Republic of Korea; Institute for Life Science and Biotechnology, Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Sunghyun
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Laboratory Science, College of Health Sciences, Yonsei University, Wonju, Gangwon, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Sunyoung
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Laboratory Science, College of Medical Science, Daegu Haany University, Daegu, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Sangjung
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Avison Biomedical Research Center, Yonsei University Medical Center, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Hyunju
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: Division of Medical Oncology, Severance Breast Cancer Clinic, Yonsei Cancer Center, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Joo Hyuk
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Sohn
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: skim@yuhs.ac.
authors.forename: SeungIl
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Institute for Life Science and Biotechnology, Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: hyelee@yonsei.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Hyeyoung
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008408:Mastectomy; D008875:Middle Aged; D009360:Neoplastic Cells, Circulating / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor
keywords: Anti-tumor treatment; Breast cancer; Circulating tumor cells (CTCs); Molecular diagnosis; Quantitative real-time PCR (RT-qPCR)