Circulating tumor cells in HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer patients: a valuable prognostic and predictive biomarker.

ABSTRACT:

Background

This study was initiated to investigate the prognostic significance of circulating tumor cell (CTC) enumeration and the predictive value of CTC HER2 expression for efficient anti-HER2 therapy in HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer (MBC) patients.

Methods

Sixty HER2-positive MBC patients were enrolled in the present study. Before the initiation of systemic treatment, CTCs from 7.5 ml of blood were analyzed using the CellSearch system. The progression-free survival (PFS) of the patients was estimated using Kaplan-Meier survival curves.

Results

CTCs were detected in 45% (27/60) of the patients, who had shorter median PFS than those without CTCs (2.5 vs. 7.5 months, P=0.0125). Furthermore, referring to the standard HER2 testing that uses immunohistochemistry

SUBMITTER: Liu Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3643882 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature