Abstract LB-293: Circulating tumor cells in peripheral and pulmonary venous blood predict poor long-term survival in surgical resected non-small cell lung cancer patients

Abstract

Abstract Background: We tested the hypothesis that the circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in preoperative peripheral blood (PPB) and intraoperative pulmonary venous blood (IPVB) could predict poor long term survival in surgically resected NSCLC patients. Methods: CTCs were separated from the blood using magnetic beads coated by antibody against epithelial-cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM) through magnetic activated cell sorting (MACS). The CTCs were quantified with fluorescence labeled antibodies against pan-cytokeratin through flow cytometry. CTCs were prospectively quantified in PPB and IPVB in 23 consecutive stage I-IIIA patients with surgically resected NSCLC. Association between CTCs and prognosis of these patients was evaluated after 5-year follow-up. Results: In the NSCLC patients, outcomes were assessed according to levels of CTCs at surgery, and compared with CTCs detected in benign pulmonary diseases, and healthy volunteers, where the mean and 95%CI of CTCs counts were all 5 CTCs/15mL in PPB and >50 CTCs/15mL in IPVB. Univariate Cox proportional-hazards regression analysis showed that CTCs count in PPB or IPVB was an independent risk factor for tumor-free and overall survivals. The high risk group of patients had a shorter median tumor-free survival (22 months vs. >60.0 months, P60 months, P<0.0015). Conclusions: CTCs count in PPB and IPVB was an independent risk factor for tumor-free and overall survival in surgically resected NSCLC patients. Citation Format: Zhidong Liu, Yunsong Li, Chongyu Su, Yi Han, Shaofa Xu. Circulating tumor cells in peripheral and pulmonary venous blood predict poor long-term survival in surgical resected non-small cell lung cancer patients. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr LB-293. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-LB-293