title: Relationship Between Circulating Tumor Cells and Tissue Plasminogen Activator in Patients with Early Breast Cancer.
abstract: Cancer increases the risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) and circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are associated with an increased risk of VTE and, thus, with increased D-dimers as a product of fibrinolysis. Tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) is one of the key enzymes in the fibrinolytic pathway. Its activity is crucial in maintaining the balance between blood coagulation and fibrinolysis. This study aimed to analyze the association between CTCs and tPA in patients with primary breast cancer before surgery.
  
  
  
  This prospective study included 110 patients in whom CTCs were detected by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction targeted at epithelial (CK19) or epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-associated genes[TWIST1, SNAI1, SNAI2, zinc finger E-box-binding homeobox 1 (ZEB1), forkhead box protein C2 (FOXC2)]. Plasma tPA protein was detected using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).
  
  
  
  CTCs were detected in 31 (28.2%) patients. There was no association between plasma tPA and CTCs. Although on average, higher levels of tPA were detected in patients with CTCs expressing EMT-associated genes, this difference did not reach statistical significance. There was no association of plasma tPA with any of the observed patient or tumor characteristics.
  
  
  
  Even though the blood coagulation pathway may be activated in more aggressive disease related to an elevated CTC count, in this study, we did not find any association between CTCs and plasma concentrations of tPA.
authors.affiliation: Second Department of Medical Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia.|Department of Oncology, Faculty Hospital Trencin, Trencin, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Branislav
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bystricky
authors.affiliation: Second Department of Medical Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia.|National Cancer Institute, Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jurisova
authors.affiliation: National Cancer Institute, Bratislava, Slovakia.|Department of Surgery, Slovak Medical University, Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Marian
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Karaba
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular Biomedicine, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Gabriel
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Minarik
authors.affiliation: National Cancer Institute, Bratislava, Slovakia.|Department of Medicine, St. Elizabeth University, Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Juraj
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Benca
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular Biomedicine, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Tatiana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sedlácková
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular Biomedicine, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Lubomira
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tothova
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular Biomedicine, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Barbora
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Vlkova
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Zuzana
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Cierna
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia.|Institute of Normal and Pathological Physiology, Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Pavol
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Janega
authors.affiliation: Translational Research Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Denisa
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Manasova
authors.affiliation: Cancer Research Institute, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Paulina
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gronesova
authors.affiliation: National Cancer Institute, Bratislava, Slovakia.|Department of Surgery, Slovak Medical University, Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pindak
authors.affiliation: Second Department of Medical Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia.|National Cancer Institute, Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Jozef
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mardiak
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular Biomedicine, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Celec
authors.affiliation: Second Department of Medical Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia misomego@gmail.com.|National Cancer Institute, Bratislava, Slovakia.|Translational Research Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Michal
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mego
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D058750:Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D008875:Middle Aged; D060787:Neoplasm Grading; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D009360:Neoplastic Cells, Circulating / Q000473:pathology*; D011379:Prognosis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D015996:Survival Rate; D010959:Tissue Plasminogen Activator / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D010959:Tissue Plasminogen Activator
keywords: Breast cancer; circulating tumor cells; tissue plasminogen activator