Epithelial circulating tumor cells in portal vein are associated with number of liver metastatic nodules of colorectal cancer.

Abstract

e15026 Background: Colorectal cancer has been one of the most diagnosed cancers worldwide, and circulating tumor cells (CTCs), resulting in colorectal liver metastases (CLM), relate to its mortality. Although the mechanism and prognostication of metastasis has attracted a broad interest, the definite relationship between CLM and different phenotype of CTC is still not sufficient. Our objective is to investigate the clinical implication of different phenotype of CTCs. Methods: Twenty-one patients with CLM were enrolled in this study. Peripheral venous (PeV) and portal vein (PoV) blood specimens were collected from each patient. Through real-time ultrasound-guided percutaneous portal vein access, Pov blood was collected. Then CTC detection technology was employed to isolate CTCs for categorization. Results: No difference in the number of total CTCs between PoV and PeV, while strikingly, the number of epithelial CTCs was higher in PoV. In patients with unresected primary lesions, epithelial CTCs in PoV were more than that in PeV, while there was no difference in resected ones. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the percentage of epithelial CTCs in PoV relate to the number of liver metastatic nodules. In addition, the increased percentage of epithelial CTCs in the PoV relates to low amounts of lymphocytes. Conclusions: Our study shows that high proportion of epithelial CTCs in Pov relates to increasing number of liver metastatic nodules in CLM.