Abstract
The aim of the present study was to develop a simple and rapid method for the detection of circulating cancer cells using multiple tumor markers and to investigate the clinical significance of circulating cancer cells in breast cancer patients. A novel rapid nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay, with high sensitivity and specificity, was evaluated, which was considered to be suitable for clinical application. The rapid nested PCR method was used to detect the circulating cancer cells of 142 breast cancer patients, using a panel of marker genes (FAM83A, NPY1R and KRT19), which were identified by the Digital Gene Expression Displayer Tool of the National Cancer Institute-Cancer Genome Anatomy Project. In total, 79.6% of the 142 breast cancer patient blood samples were found to express at least one tumor marker. In addition, the number of positive markers was found to significantly correlate with the disease stage and presence of distant metastasis. Furthermore, positivity for more than one tumor marker appeared to predict a reduced survival time in breast cancer patients.
Highlights
Breast cancer is the second most common type of cancer worldwide and undoubtedly the most common type of malignant disease in females
It has been reported that the nest reverse transcription (RT)‐polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is extremely sensitive and capable of detecting one breast cancer cell in 107 cells, which is equivalent to four cells per 10 ml blood (3)
In sillico analysis was performed to identify a panel of marker genes for the detection of breast cancer cells dispersed in the circulation
Summary
Breast cancer is the second most common type of cancer worldwide and undoubtedly the most common type of malignant disease in females. The positive detection rate of circulating cancer cells in breast cancer patients was only 43.9% when the single marker gene, cytokeratin 19, was employed (2). A combination of multiple markers may be required to improve the sensitivity and specificity for the detection of circulating cancer cells. It has been reported that the nest reverse transcription (RT)‐polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is extremely sensitive and capable of detecting one breast cancer cell in 107 cells, which is equivalent to four cells per 10 ml blood (3). Such a technically demanding and time‐consuming method is less suitable for clinical application
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