Detection of Circulating Tumour Cells in Urothelial Cancers and Clinical Correlations: Comparison of Two Methods.
Circulating tumour cells (CTC) are identified exploiting their protein/gene expression patterns or distinct size compared to blood cells. Data on CTC in bladder cancer (BC) are still scarce. We comparatively analyzed CTC enrichment by AdnaTest ProstateCancerSelect (AT) and ScreenCell®Cyto (SC) kits, combined with identification byEPCAM, MUC1,andERBB2expression and by cytological criteria, respectively, in 19 nonmetastatic (M0) and 47 metastatic (M+) BC patients, at baseline (T0) and during treatment (T1). AtT0, CTC positivity rates by AT were higher inM+compared toM0cases (57.4% versus 25%,p= 0.041).EPCAMwas detected in 75% of CTC-positive samples by AT, showing increasing expression levels fromT0toT1(median (interquartile range, IQR): 0.18 (0.07-0.42) versus 0.84 (0.33-1.84),p= 0.005) inM+cases. Overall, CTC positivity by SC was around 80% regardless of clinical setting and time point of analysis, except for a lower occurrence atT1inM0cases. AtT0, circulating tumour microemboli were more frequently (25% versus 8%) detected and more numerous inM+compared toM0patients. The approach used for CTC detection impacts the outcome of CTC studies. Further investigations are required to clarify the clinical validity of AT and SC in specific BC clinical contexts.
Department of Experimental Oncology and Molecular Medicine, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milano, Italy.
Emanuela
E
Fina
Department of Medical Oncology, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milano, Italy.
Andrea
A
Necchi
Unit of Medical Statistics, Biometry and Bioinformatics, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milano, Italy.
Stefano
S
Bottelli
Department of Experimental Oncology and Molecular Medicine, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milano, Italy.
Carolina
C
Reduzzi
Unit of Medical Statistics, Biometry and Bioinformatics, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milano, Italy.
Sara
S
Pizzamiglio
Department of Experimental Oncology and Molecular Medicine, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milano, Italy.
Chiara
C
Iacona
Department of Experimental Oncology and Molecular Medicine, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milano, Italy.
Maria Grazia
MG
Daidone
Unit of Medical Statistics, Biometry and Bioinformatics, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milano, Italy.
Paolo
0000-0002-9231-1281
P
Verderio
Department of Experimental Oncology and Molecular Medicine, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milano, Italy.
Vera
0000-0002-9709-0676
V
Cappelletti
D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D009360:Neoplastic Cells, Circulating / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic; D001749:Urinary Bladder Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D019459:Urothelium / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*
D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic