The School of Biomedical Sciences, Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, Queensland University of Technology, Kelvin Grove, QLD, Australia.
Tranlsational Research Institute, Brisbane, Australia.
Sci Rep. 2018 Jan 15;8(1):746. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-19117-9.
Distant metastasis (DM) from head and neck cancers (HNC) portends a poor patient prognosis. Despite its important biological role, little is known about the cells which seed these DM. Circulating tumour cells (CTCs) represent a transient cancer cell population, which circulate in HNC patients' peripheral blood and seed at distant sites. Capture and analysis of CTCs offers insights into tumour metastasis and can facilitate treatment strategies. Whilst the data on singular CTCs have shown clinical significance, the role of CTC clusters in metastasis remains limited. In this pilot study, we assessed 60 treatment naïve HNC patients for CTCs with disease ranging from early to advanced stages, for CTC clusters utilizing spiral CTC enrichment technology. Single CTCs were isolated in 18/60-30% (Ranging from Stage I-IV), CTC clusters in 15/60-25% (exclusively Stage IV) with 3/15-20% of CTC clusters also containing leukocytes. The presence of CTC clusters associated with the development of distant metastatic disease(P = 0.0313). This study demonstrates that CTC clusters are found in locally advanced patients, and this may be an important prognostic marker. In vivo and in vitro studies are warranted to determine the role of these CTC clusters, in particular, whether leukocyte involvement in CTC clusters has clinical relevance.
远处转移 (DM) 是头颈部癌症 (HNC) 的不良预后因素。尽管其具有重要的生物学作用，但对于引发这些 DM 的细胞知之甚少。循环肿瘤细胞 (CTC) 是一种短暂的癌细胞群体，存在于 HNC 患者的外周血液中，并在远处部位播种。捕获和分析 CTC 可深入了解肿瘤转移，并有助于制定治疗策略。虽然关于单个 CTC 的数据显示出了临床意义，但 CTC 簇在转移中的作用仍然有限。在这项初步研究中，我们利用螺旋 CTC 富集技术，评估了 60 例治疗初治的 HNC 患者的 CTC，这些患者的疾病从早期到晚期不等，以评估 CTC 簇。在 18/60-30%（范围从 I 期-IV 期）的患者中分离出单个 CTC，在 15/60-25%（仅 IV 期）的患者中分离出 CTC 簇，其中 3/15-20%的 CTC 簇还含有白细胞。CTC 簇的存在与远处转移性疾病的发生相关 (P = 0.0313)。这项研究表明，局部晚期患者中存在 CTC 簇，这可能是一个重要的预后标志物。需要进行体内和体外研究来确定这些 CTC 簇的作用，特别是白细胞是否参与 CTC 簇具有临床意义。
