title: Detection of circulating tumor cells in patients with esophagogastric or pancreatic adenocarcinoma using the CellSearch®system: An observational feasibility study.
abstract: Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in the blood of cancer patients have been demonstrated to be of prognostic value regarding metastasis and survival. The CellSearch®system has been certified for the detection of CTCs and as a prognostic tool in patients with metastatic breast, colon and prostate cancer. Few studies have evaluated the detection of CTCs originating from esophagogastric or pancreatic cancer with the CellSearch®system. In the present small pilot study, a total of 16 patients with either esophagogastric (n=8) or pancreatic (n=8) adenocarcinomas at various disease stages were randomly screened and included. A total of 7.5 ml of blood was drawn from each patient and analyzed for CTCs using the CellSearch®device. CTCs could be detected in 1 out of 8 patients (12.5%) with esophagogastric and in 7 out of 8 patients (87.5%) with pancreatic cancer. The preliminary data obtained from this observational feasibility study suggested that the CellSearch®system may become a valuable tool for the detection of CTCs in patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma, whereas the usefulness in patients with early-stage esophagogastric adenocarcinoma may be limited. This study clearly points towards a requirement for larger studies focusing on patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma at various disease stages and assessing CTCs, whereas patients with esophagogastric adenocarcinomas should be part of further pilot studies.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Anesthesiology, University Hospital Zurich, 8091 Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Tobias
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Piegeler
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, University Hospital Zurich, 8091 Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Winder
authors.affiliation: Institute of Anesthesiology, University Hospital Zurich, 8091 Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Sabine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kern
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, University Hospital Zurich, 8091 Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Bernhard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Pestalozzi
authors.affiliation: Department of Visceral and Transplant Surgery, University Hospital Zurich, 8091 Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Paul Magnus
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Schneider
authors.affiliation: Institute of Anesthesiology, University Hospital Zurich, 8091 Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Beatrice
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Beck-Schimmer
keywords: circulating tumor cells; esophagogastric cancer; pancreatic cancer