Department of Molecular Medicine, Circulating Tumor Cells Unit, Sapienza University of Rome, Viale Regina Elena 324, 00161 Rome, Italy.
Policlinico Umerto I, II Division of Internal Medicine and Geriatrics, Sapienza University of Rome, Viale del Policlinico 155, 00161 Rome, Italy.
Anal Cell Pathol (Amst). 2018 Mar 7;2018:9718585. doi: 10.1155/2018/9718585. eCollection 2018.
Hemangiopericytoma (HPT) is a rare mesenchymal tumor of fibroblastic type and for its rarity is poorly studied. The most common sites of metastatic disease in patients with intracranial HPT are the bone, liver, and lung, suggestive for an hematogenous dissemination; for this reason, we investigated, for the first time, the presence of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in hemangiopericytoma patient by CellSearch® and SceenCell® devices. Peripheral blood samples were drawn and processed by CellSearch, an EpCAM-dependent device, and ScreenCell®, a device size based. We found nontypical CTCs by CellSearch system and the immunofluorescence analysis performed on CTCs isolate by ScreenCell demonstrated the presence of single CTCs and CTC clusters. The molecular characterization of single CTCs and CTC clusters, using antibodies directed against EpCAM, CD34, cytokeratins (8, 18, and 19), and CD45, showed a great heterogeneity in CTC clusters. We believe that the present study may open a new scenario in the rare tumors: the introduction of the liquid biopsy and the molecular characterization of circulating tumor cells could lead to personalized targeted treatments and also for rare tumors.
血管外皮细胞瘤（HPT）是一种罕见的成纤维细胞型间叶组织肿瘤，由于其罕见性，研究不足。颅内 HPT 患者转移性疾病最常见的部位是骨骼、肝脏和肺部，提示存在血行播散；因此，我们首次通过 CellSearch®和 ScreenCell®设备研究了血管外皮细胞瘤患者循环肿瘤细胞（CTC）的存在。采集外周血样本并通过 CellSearch 进行处理，该设备依赖于 EpCAM，而 ScreenCell®则基于细胞大小。我们通过 CellSearch 系统发现了非典型 CTC，通过 ScreenCell 对 CTC 分离物进行的免疫荧光分析显示存在单个 CTC 和 CTC 簇。使用针对 EpCAM、CD34、细胞角蛋白（8、18 和 19）和 CD45 的抗体对单个 CTC 和 CTC 簇进行分子特征分析，显示 CTC 簇存在很大的异质性。我们认为，本研究可能为罕见肿瘤开辟了新的前景：引入液体活检和循环肿瘤细胞的分子特征分析可能导致针对罕见肿瘤的个体化靶向治疗。
