Fu Xinsa, Shen Congxiang, Wang Huigang, Chen Fang, Li Guanxue, Wen Zhong
Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510282, China.
BMC Cancer. 2017 Jul 11;17(1):479. doi: 10.1186/s12885-017-3471-6.
The study was aimed to quantitatively detect mRNA levels of the catalytic subunit of telomerase (hTERT) in both peripheral blood and circulating tumor cells (CTCs) of patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) and explore its significance in early diagnosis and treatment of NPC.
hTERT mRNA levels in peripheral blood and CTCs of 33 NPC patients before and after treatment with intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) or/and chemotherapy and 24 healthy controls were measured using real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) and their correlations to clinic pathological factors of NPC were analyzed.
Peripheral hTERT mRNA content was 10.75 ± 4.29 in NPC patients and 0.95 ± 0.37 in control subjects (P < 0.05), and had a significant correlation with patients' clinical stage, T stage, and N stage (P < 0.05). Treatment of NPC patients at stages I and II with simple IMRT significantly reduced hTERT mRNA level from 5.60 ± 2.33 to 3.43 ± 1.42 (P < 0.05) and treatment of patients at advanced stage (III and IV) with induction chemotherapy followed by IMRT significantly reduced hTERT mRNA levels from 12.68 ± 3.08 to 10.68 ± 2.48 to 3.13 ± 1.69 (P < 0.05), respectively. In addition, the study also showed that hTERT mRNA content in CTCs of NPC patients was 10.65 ± 4.28, evidently higher than that of 1.09 ± 0.40 in control subjects (P < 0.05) and hTERT mRNA level in CTCs of NPC patients was obviously correlated to patients' clinical stage, T stage and N stage (P < 0.05). After treatment, hTERT mRNA level in CTCs of NPC patients lowered from 10.65 ± 4.28 to 5.59 ± 2.32 (P < 0.05). The correlation analysis found that hTERT mRNA level in peripheral blood and CTCs of NPC patients were highly correlated with a correlation coefficient of 0.981.
hTERT mRNA levels in peripheral blood and CTCs of NPC patients were significantly enhanced compared to that in healthy controls and highly correlated. Changes in hTERT mRNA level was closely correlated to patients' clinical stage and T stage. Radiochemotherapy could effectively reduce hTERT mRNA level in peripheral blood and CTCs. Thus, it is possible using the joint detection of hTERT mRNA level in peripheral blood and CTCs as a new biomarker for early diagnosis, treatment efficacy and prognosis of NPC.
本研究旨在定量检测鼻咽癌（NPC）患者外周血和循环肿瘤细胞（CTC）中端粒酶催化亚基（hTERT）的mRNA水平，并探讨其在NPC早期诊断和治疗中的意义。
采用实时定量PCR（qPCR）检测33例接受调强放射治疗（IMRT）或/和化疗前后的NPC患者及24例健康对照者外周血和CTC中hTERT mRNA水平，并分析其与NPC临床病理因素的相关性。
NPC患者外周血hTERT mRNA含量为10.75±4.29，对照组为0.95±0.37（P<0.05），且与患者临床分期、T分期和N分期显著相关（P<0.05）。I期和II期NPC患者单纯IMRT治疗后hTERT mRNA水平从5.60±2.33显著降至3.43±1.42（P<0.05），晚期（III期和IV期）患者诱导化疗后序贯IMRT治疗hTERT mRNA水平分别从12.68±3.08降至10.68±2.48再降至3.13±1.69（P<0.05）。此外，研究还显示NPC患者CTC中hTERT mRNA含量为10.65±4.28，明显高于对照组的1.09±0.40（P<0.05），且NPC患者CTC中hTERT mRNA水平与患者临床分期、T分期和N分期明显相关（P<0.05）。治疗后，NPC患者CTC中hTERT mRNA水平从10.65±4.28降至5.59±2.32（P<0.05）。相关性分析发现NPC患者外周血和CTC中hTERT mRNA水平高度相关，相关系数为0.981。
NPC患者外周血和CTC中hTERT mRNA水平较健康对照者显著升高且高度相关。hTERT mRNA水平变化与患者临床分期和T分期密切相关。放化疗可有效降低外周血和CTC中hTERT mRNA水平。因此，联合检测外周血和CTC中hTERT mRNA水平有可能作为NPC早期诊断、治疗疗效及预后评估的新生物标志物。
