Xie Peipei, Zhang Xiaoli, Liu Tianyi, Song Yuchun, Zhang Qi, Wan Duo, Wang Shijia, Wang Shulian, Zhang Wen
State Key Laboratory of Molecular Oncology, Department of Etiology and Carcinogenesis, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100021, China.
Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100021, China.
Discov Oncol. 2024 Dec 18;15(1):760. doi: 10.1007/s12672-024-01663-0.
During tumor progression, HER2 expression undergoes dynamic changes. Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) can be used to monitor HER2 expression in real-time and hold potential for clinical application. This study aimed to evaluate the consistency of HER2 expression between primary tumors and CTCs in patients with breast cancer (BC).
We used a previously established telomerase reverse transcriptase-based CTC detection method (TBCD) combined with anti-HER2 antibody to detect CTC and HER2-positive CTC (HER2 + CTC) in 4 ml of peripheral blood from patients with breast cancer prior to radiotherapy. The results indicated that the status of HER2 in CTC was inconsistent with the histological results.
Discordance in HER2 status between primary tumor and CTC was observed in 32.6% of patients (kappa value = 0.325, p = 0.03). And among patients with histologically HER2-negative breast cancer, the detection rate of HER2 + CTC was 32.1% (9/28).
We found that the HER2 status of CTC in peripheral blood was inconsistent with the histological findings. Further research should explore the clinical significance of detecting HER2-positive CTCs, and it is desired that real-time HER2 status testing of CTCs could hold potential value for patients with breast cancer.
在肿瘤进展过程中，HER2表达会发生动态变化。循环肿瘤细胞（CTC）可用于实时监测HER2表达，并具有临床应用潜力。本研究旨在评估乳腺癌（BC）患者原发肿瘤与CTC之间HER2表达的一致性。
我们使用先前建立的基于端粒酶逆转录酶的CTC检测方法（TBCD），结合抗HER2抗体，在放疗前检测4ml乳腺癌患者外周血中的CTC和HER2阳性CTC（HER2+ CTC）。结果表明，CTC中HER2的状态与组织学结果不一致。
32.6%的患者原发肿瘤与CTC之间的HER2状态存在不一致（kappa值 = 0.325，p = 0.03）。在组织学HER2阴性乳腺癌患者中，HER2+ CTC的检出率为32.1%（9/28）。
我们发现外周血中CTC的HER2状态与组织学结果不一致。进一步的研究应探索检测HER2阳性CTC的临床意义，并且期望CTC的实时HER2状态检测对乳腺癌患者具有潜在价值。
