Association of phenotypic transformation of circulating tumor cells and early recurrence in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma following liver transplantation.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

CTCs play a critical role in the diagnosis and prognosis of liver cancer. However, there are few studies on whether different types of CTCs can predict the prognosis in patients with HCC following LT.

METHODS:

Retrospective data including CTCs detected by the CanPatrolTM platform combined with RNA-ISH were collected and analyzed on 56 patients from December 2016 to December 2019 at the Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China.

RESULTS:

During the study period, fifty-six patients (51 males, 5 females) were included with an mean age of 52 ± 9 years. The 1-, 2- and 3-year recurrence rates of postoperative interstitial CTC-positive and CTC-negative groups were 21.7% vs 10.8%, 37.5% vs 10.8% and 55.5% vs 10.8%, confirming a statistically significant difference between the 2 groups (p = 0.044). The 1-, 2- and 3-year recurrence rates of the increasing interstitial CTCs group were 25.2%, 36.9% and 66.9%, while 12.6%, 24.4% and 24.4% in the decreasing and unchanged group, indicating a significant difference (p = 0.038).

CONCLUSION:

CanPatrolTM platform presents a superior analytical sensitivity, and may be used as a dynamic monitoring tool for CTCs. And interstitial CTCs which are more aggressive and metastatic caused by EMT can be regarded as a predictor of post-transplant tumor recurrence after LT for HCC.

• Authors: Yun-Liang Xie, Zhou Yang, Xiao Feng, Qing Yang, Lin-Sen Ye, Xiao-Bin Li, Hui Tang, Ying-Cai Zhang, Wei Liu, Tong Zhang, Bin-Sheng Fu, Shu-Hong Yi, Yang Yang, Gui-Hua Chen
• Journal: Asian journal of surgery (Asian J Surg) Vol. 45 Issue 1 Pg. 435-440 (Jan 2022) ISSN: 0219-3108 [Electronic] China
• PMID: 34426060 (Publication Type: Journal Article)
• Copyright: Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier Taiwan LLC.

Chemical References

• Biomarkers, Tumor

Topics

• Adult
• Biomarkers, Tumor
• Carcinoma, Hepatocellular (surgery)
• Female
• Humans
• Liver Neoplasms (surgery)
• Liver Transplantation
• Male
• Middle Aged
• Neoplasm Recurrence, Local
• Neoplastic Cells, Circulating
• Prognosis
• Retrospective Studies