Different prognostic value of circulating and disseminated tumor cells in primary breast cancer: Influence of bisphosphonate intake?

Disseminated tumor cells (DTCs) in the bone marrow (BM) and circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in blood of breast cancer patients (pts) are known to correlate with worse outcome. Here we demonstrate a different prognostic value of DTCs and CTCs and explain these findings by early clodronate intake. CTCs (n = 376 pts) were determined using the AdnaTest BreastCancer (Qiagen Hannover GmbH, Germany) and DTCs (n = 525 pts) were analyzed by immunocytochemistry using the pan-cytokeratin antibody A45-B/B3.

Does primary neoadjuvant systemic therapy eradicate minimal residual disease? Analysis of disseminated and circulating tumor cells before and after therapy.

Background: Patients with breast cancer (BC) undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) may experience metastatic relapse despite achieving a pathologic complete response. We analyzed patients with BC before and after NACT for disseminated tumor cells (DTCs) in the bone marrow(BM); comprehensively characterized circulating tumor cells (CTCs), including stem cell-like CTCs (slCTCs), in blood to prove the effectiveness of treatment on these cells; and correlated these findings with response to therapy, progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS).

Methods: CTCs (n = 135) and slCTCs (n = 91) before and after NACT were analyzed using the AdnaTest BreastCancer, AdnaTest TumorStemCell, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (QIAGEN Hannover GmbH Germany).