RESUMO
PURPOSE: Metastasis requires malignant cell circulation from the primary to a distant tissue. Elevated levels of circulating tumor cells (CTC) portend a poor prognosis in breast and other cancers. Recent studies have suggested that CTC clusters may be a factor in the metastatic process. We conducted a prospective retrospective study of the SWOG0500 clinical trial to test whether CTC clusters are associated with poorer prognosis. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: CTC CellSearch galleries from SWOG0500 trial were reread using prespecified criteria for CTC clusters, doublets, and enumeration. Survival analysis methods include Kaplan-Meier plots and log-rank tests. RESULTS: Patients were classified into three prognostic subgroups based on baseline CTC/7.5 mL whole blood (WB): Arm A: <5CTC; Arm B/C: ≥5CTC and then B (<5CTC) and C (≥5CTC)/7.5 mL WB at first follow-up. At baseline, 19% of patients had CTC doublets or clusters, which were more likely in Arm B/C versus Arm A (38% vs. 1.4%; P < 0.0001). Furthermore, doublets or clusters were significantly more common in patients who were ultimately assigned to Arm C versus B (54% vs. 25%; P < 0.0001). In Arm C, doublets and clusters were associated with worse overall survival than only doublets, clusters, or no doublets nor clusters at baseline (P = 0.008) and first follow-up (P = 0.010). When compared with enumeration alone, doublets, clusters, or both were not prognostic in patients who had 5-19 or ≥20 CTC/7.5 mL WB. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with metastatic breast cancer starting first-line chemotherapy, mortality is independent of the presence of CTC clusters, but rather depends on the number of CTC/7.5 mL WB.
Assuntos
Neoplasias da Mama/mortalidade , Células Neoplásicas Circulantes , Antineoplásicos/uso terapêutico , Neoplasias da Mama/sangue , Neoplasias da Mama/tratamento farmacológico , Neoplasias da Mama/patologia , Contagem de Células , Ensaios Clínicos Fase III como Assunto , Feminino , Seguimentos , Humanos , Estimativa de Kaplan-Meier , Estadiamento de Neoplasias , Prognóstico , Estudos Prospectivos , Ensaios Clínicos Controlados Aleatórios como Assunto , Estudos Retrospectivos , Resultado do TratamentoRESUMO
BACKGROUND: Enumeration of circulating tumor cells (CTC) from whole blood permits monitoring of patients with breast carcinoma. Analysis of apoptosis & Bcl-2 expression in CTC might add additional prognostic and predictive information. We estimated the degree of these markers in CTC from patients being treated for metastatic breast cancer. METHODS: Eighty-three evaluable patients initiating a new therapy for metastatic breast cancer were enrolled. Whole blood was collected at baseline, at one of three short term time windows (24, 48, or 72 h) after initiating treatment, and at first follow-up (3-5 weeks). CTC were isolated, enumerated, and expression of M30 and Bcl2 was determined using the CellSearch(®) System. RESULTS: At baseline, window, and 3-5 weeks post-treatment, 41/80 (51%), 40/80 (50%) and 21/75 (28%) patients had ≥5 CTC, respectively. At baseline, the proportion of CTC-apoptosis (M30) was inversely correlated with CTC number, and modestly inversely correlated with CTC-Bcl-2. As expected, higher CTC levels at baseline or first follow-up were associated with worse prognosis. Surprisingly, in patients with elevated CTC, higher levels of CTC-apoptosis were associated with worse prognosis, while higher CTC-Bcl-2 levels correlated with better outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: CTC apoptosis and expression of Bcl-2 can be analytically determined in patients with metastatic breast cancer and may have biological and clinical implications. Characterization of CTC for these and other markers could further increase the utility of CTC monitoring patients in clinical investigations of new anti-neoplastic agents.