Clinical significance of recombinant virus-specific detection for viable circulating tumor cells in lung cancer patients

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the clinical significance of recombinant virus-specific detection for detecting viable circulating tumor cell (CTC) in lung cancer patients. Methods: From June 2017 to August 2018, 63 lung cancer patients diagnosed by imaging and pathology at the Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Beijing Anzhen Hospital were recruited for this study, including 38 cases of adenocarcinoma, 13 squamous cell carcinoma, and 12 small cell carcinoma. The patients consisted of 36 males and 27 females, with an average age of (65±11) years. In addition,21 patients with benign lung diseases were recruited for benign lung disease group, including 11 males and 10 females with an average age of (57±13) years. Another 18 healthy subjects were recruited for the healthy control group, including 10 males and 8 females, with an average age of (32±10) years. The peripheral blood viable CTCs were detected by a CTC in vitro detection kit containing recombinant virus. Fisher's exact test was used to compare the differences between the groups of viable CTC positive rates. Results: Cases with positive viable CTC in the lung cancer group, the benign lung disease group and the healthy control group were 56,4 and 0, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of this CTC detection system were 89% (56/63) and 90% (35/39) , respectively. The positive rate of CTC detection for lung cancer patients with adenocarcinoma, aquamous cell carcinoma, and small cell carcinoma, were 84%(32/38), 92% (12/13) and 100% (12/12), respectively. The positive cases from adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma patients with different stages were 2 (n=2) in stageⅠ,6 (n=8) in stage Ⅱ,7(n=8) in stage Ⅲ and 29(n=33) in stage Ⅳ. There were no significant differences in the positive rates of CTC among different histological types or different stages (χ(2)=1.881, 3.419; P>0.05) . Conclusion: This CTC detection system was found to be a simple and non-invasive method for auxiliary diagnosis of lung cancer, with high sensitivity and specificity.