title: Long-term prognostic impact of circulating tumour cells in gastric cancer patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To analyse the long-term prognostic impact of circulating tumour cells (CTCs) in gastric cancer patients who underwent surgery.
  
  
  METHODS
  A 7.5-mL peripheral vein blood sample was obtained from each patient with treatment-negative gastric adenocarcinoma before surgery. OBP-401, a telomerase-specific, replication-selective, oncolytic adenoviral agent carrying the green fluorescent protein gene, was used to label CTCs. Correlations between the number of CTCs and clinical end points were evaluated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The median follow-up period of the surviving patients with gastric cancer was 60 mo. The CTC number tended to increase concomitantly with disease progression. The overall survival of patients with more than five CTCs in 7.5-mL of peripheral blood was lower than that of patients with five or less CTCs, although the difference was not significant (P= 0.183). A significant difference in relapse-free survival was found between patients with more than five and those with five or less CTCs (P= 0.034).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A lower number of CTCs was correlated with higher relapse-free survival rates in patients. Detection of CTCs using OBP-401 may be useful for predicting prognosis in gastric cancer.
authors.affiliation: Hiroaki Ito, Manabu Onimaru, Haruhiro Inoue, Department of Surgery, Digestive Disease Center, Showa University Koto Toyosu Hospital, Tokyo 135-8577, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ito
authors.affiliation: Hiroaki Ito, Manabu Onimaru, Haruhiro Inoue, Department of Surgery, Digestive Disease Center, Showa University Koto Toyosu Hospital, Tokyo 135-8577, Japan.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.affiliation: Hiroaki Ito, Manabu Onimaru, Haruhiro Inoue, Department of Surgery, Digestive Disease Center, Showa University Koto Toyosu Hospital, Tokyo 135-8577, Japan.
authors.forename: Yukio
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tsujino
authors.affiliation: Hiroaki Ito, Manabu Onimaru, Haruhiro Inoue, Department of Surgery, Digestive Disease Center, Showa University Koto Toyosu Hospital, Tokyo 135-8577, Japan.
authors.forename: Noriko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yamaguchi
authors.affiliation: Hiroaki Ito, Manabu Onimaru, Haruhiro Inoue, Department of Surgery, Digestive Disease Center, Showa University Koto Toyosu Hospital, Tokyo 135-8577, Japan.
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kimura
authors.affiliation: Hiroaki Ito, Manabu Onimaru, Haruhiro Inoue, Department of Surgery, Digestive Disease Center, Showa University Koto Toyosu Hospital, Tokyo 135-8577, Japan.
authors.forename: Keigo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Gohda
authors.affiliation: Hiroaki Ito, Manabu Onimaru, Haruhiro Inoue, Department of Surgery, Digestive Disease Center, Showa University Koto Toyosu Hospital, Tokyo 135-8577, Japan.
authors.forename: Katsuhiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Murakami
authors.affiliation: Hiroaki Ito, Manabu Onimaru, Haruhiro Inoue, Department of Surgery, Digestive Disease Center, Showa University Koto Toyosu Hospital, Tokyo 135-8577, Japan.
authors.forename: Manabu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Onimaru
authors.affiliation: Hiroaki Ito, Manabu Onimaru, Haruhiro Inoue, Department of Surgery, Digestive Disease Center, Showa University Koto Toyosu Hospital, Tokyo 135-8577, Japan.
authors.forename: Tohru
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ohmori
authors.affiliation: Hiroaki Ito, Manabu Onimaru, Haruhiro Inoue, Department of Surgery, Digestive Disease Center, Showa University Koto Toyosu Hospital, Tokyo 135-8577, Japan.
authors.forename: Fumihiro
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ishikawa
authors.affiliation: Hiroaki Ito, Manabu Onimaru, Haruhiro Inoue, Department of Surgery, Digestive Disease Center, Showa University Koto Toyosu Hospital, Tokyo 135-8577, Japan.
authors.forename: Haruhiro
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Inoue
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000097:blood* / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D017024:Chemotherapy, Adjuvant; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D005743:Gastrectomy; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009360:Neoplastic Cells, Circulating; D011379:Prognosis; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy
keywords: Circulating tumour cells; Gastric cancer; Prognosis; Surgery; Telomerase