Circulating tumor cells as a preoperative risk marker for occult metastases in patients with resectable cholangiocarcinoma.

ABSTRACT: Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is an aggressive tumor associated with a high rate of recurrence after resection. An important risk factor for recurrence is the presence of occult metasta-ses, which are not radiologically detectable at the time of diagnosis. There are currently no biomarkers for the preoperative assessment of micrometastases. A previous study demonstrated the prognostic relevance of circulating tumor cells (CTC) in patients with advanced CCA but the potential of CTCs as a preoperative marker for detecting occult metastases has not been investigated so far. In this two-phase study, we first recruited a cohort of 27 patients with histologically proven, metastatic CCA or gallbladder cancer (GBCA) to assess feasibility (feasibility cohort, FC). CTCs were measured in the peripheral bl

SUBMITTER: Frundt T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9685781 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature