Isolating and analyzing CTCs from the blood of cancer patients can provide additional information on prognosis of patients, treatment efficacy and molecular tumor evolution. Li and further colleagues from four different cancer centers in China investigated the prognostic relevance of CTCs in metastatic breast cancer (MBC). For this purpose the unique and innovative GILUPI CellCollector® in vivo technology was included in this clinical trial.
From April to August 2016, 127 patients diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer and 63 patients diagnosed with benign breast disease were enrolled. MBC patients received a GILUPI CellCollector® application before treatment and approximately 4 weeks after starting treatment, while benign patients had one GILUPI CellCollector® application.
Published data are already available for CTC isolation using the GILUPI CellCollector® technology in patients with prostate cancer, neuroendocrine tumors and lung cancer with high positivity rates (54 – 97%). In addition, this chinese study revealed for the first time, a high incidence of CTCs in newly progressive metastatic breast cancer patients. In metastatic breast cancer group 74.8% were positive for CTCs and the number of CTC detected in the benign group was 0 in each case. More importantly, CTC rates detected by the GILUPI CellCollector® displayed a decrease after 4 weeks treatment to 45% positivity rate. Li et al. showed also that the captured CTCs could be characterized on a molecular level. In conclusion, the researchers revealed a high specificity and sensitivity of CTCs as prognostic value.
[1] Li et al. "Circulating tumor cells in patients with breast tumors were detected by a novel device: a multicenter, clinical trial in China”, Zhonghua Yi Xue Za Zhi. 2017 Jun 27;97(24):1857-1861. doi: 10.3760/cma.j.issn.0376-2491.2017.24.003. Article in Chinese; For English version please contact GILUPI