A preliminary study of the clinical significance of folate receptor-positive circulating tumor cell in the management of hepatobiliary-pancreatic cancers.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Hepatobiliary-pancreatic cancers (HBPs) are highly lethal, partly because of their usually late diagnosis. This multi-center, observational study aimed to explore the clinical significance of folate receptor-positive circulating tumor cell (FR+CTC) as a liquid biopsy approach in the differential diagnosis and management of HBPs.

METHODS:

We recruited 119 patients suspicious for HBPs and 60 cancer-free healthy individuals in the present study. Patients without definitive pathological assessment or without pre-operative FR+CTC analysis were excluded. FR+CTC was tested prior to surgery or tissue biopsy using the CytoploRare® Detection Kit. Serum biomarkers, including CA 125, CA 19-9, and CEA, were tested in selected patients. Post-operative FR+CTC analysis was also performed in a subset of the patients receiving surgical resection.

RESULTS:

With 8.65 FU/3 mL as the cut-off value, the sensitivity and specificity of FR+CTC in differential diagnosis were 98.1% and 79.1%, respectively. The detection rate of FR+CTC was superior to conventional serum biomarkers (CA 19-9 > CA 125 > CEA). For the 16patients with matched post-operative FR+CTC analysis, FR+CTC levels significantly reduced after surgery (P=0.0084).

CONCLUSIONS:

Our results demonstrated that FR+CTC analysis could be an efficacious non-invasive biomarker in differential diagnosis and surveillance of HBPs, though further investigation with a larger sample size is required.

• Authors: Yong-Gang He, Lu Zheng, Ming-Fa Gao, Yi-Chen Tang, Yu-Ming Li, Kai-Huan Yu, Jing Li, Xiao-Bing Huang
• Journal: Translational cancer research (Transl Cancer Res) Vol. 9 Issue 11 Pg. 6700-6709 (Nov 2020) ISSN: 2219-6803 [Electronic] China
• PMID: 35117280 (Publication Type: Journal Article)
• Copyright: 2020 Translational Cancer Research. All rights reserved.