Clinical significance of circulating tumor cells in colon and breast solid neoplasms

Invasion can occur very early in tumor development, thus emphasizing the importance of specific and sensitive detection of circulating tumor cells. This rare population (just a few CTCs mixed with approximately 10 million leukocytes and 5 billion erythrocytes in 1 ml of blood) is difficult to identify and distinguish from epithelial non tumor cells and leukocytes. In our study we used FACS (Fluorescence Activated Cell Sorting) technique to identify CTCs viable and intact in patients with localized breast carcinoma and colon adenocarcinoma. After the running we studied correlations between CTCs numbers and prognostic data as HER-2 status in breast carcinoma, tumor size, TNM system, vascular invasion and lymph node involvement. We identified in all the oncological patients CTC EpCAM+ positive, with variable rate between 0,02 and 0,95. All breast carcinoma patients were CTC EpCAM+/HER2/neu+ positive although the cerbB2 status by immunohistochemistry was variable. CTCs rate was not correlated with tumor size, TNM. The aim of our study was to identify an easy affordable technology to efficiently isolate this rare population of cells in a viable and intact state and with high purity in patients with localized breast carcinoma and colon adenocarcinoma and in the same time value prognostic data as HER-2 status in breast carcinoma.