Meng S, Tripathy D, Frenkel EP, Shete S, Naftalis EZ, Huth JF, Beitsch PD, Leitch M, Hoover S, Euhus D, Haley B, Morrison L, Fleming TP, Herlyn D, Terstappen LWMM, Fehm T, Tucker TF, Lane N, Wang J, Uhr JW. Circulating tumor cells in patients with breast cancer dormancy.
Clin Cancer Res 2005;
10:8152-62. [PMID:
15623589 DOI:
10.1158/1078-0432.ccr-04-1110]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 694] [Impact Index Per Article: 36.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
PURPOSE
The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are present in patients many years after mastectomy without evidence of disease and that these CTCs are shed from persisting tumor in patients with breast cancer dormancy.
EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN
We searched for CTCs in 36 dormancy candidate patients and 26 age-matched controls using stringent criteria for cytomorphology, immunophenotype, and aneusomy.
RESULTS
Thirteen of 36 dormancy candidates, 7 to 22 years after mastectomy and without evidence of clinical disease, had CTCs, usually on more than one occasion. Only 1 of 26 controls had a possible CTC (no aneusomy). The statistical difference of these two distributions was significant (exact P = 0.0043). The CTCs in patients whose primary breast cancer was just removed had a half-life measured in 1 to 2.4 hours.
CONCLUSIONS
The CTCs that are dying must be replenished every few hours by replicating tumor cells somewhere in the tissues. Hence, there appears to be a balance between tumor replication and cell death for as long as 22 years in dormancy candidates. We conclude that this is one mechanism underlying tumor dormancy.
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