Plastin 3 Expression in Circulating Tumor Cells as a Predictor of Cancer Status in Patients with Prostate Cancer

Abstract

Abstract Objectives To identify the role of plastin3 (PLS3) expression in circulating tumor cells (CTCs) of early stage prostate cancer (PCa). Materials and Methods CTCs were collected from 23 prostate cancer patients based on cell surface markers targeting prostate cancer by V-BioChip. Condition of Plastin3 expression and correlations to the prostate cancer were also analyzed. Results Of the 23 patients with prostate cancer, total CTCs (CK+ or PLS3+) were found in 11 patients and PLS3+ CTCs were detected in 10 patients. When the cohort was stratified by risk group, 90% of the high-risk patients were found to have PLS3+ circulating tumor cells (9/10 patients). However, only 15.4% of low/intermediate-risk patients had PLS3+ circulating tumor cells (2/13 patients). The number of PLS3+ CTCs was higher in the high-risk group. Conclusions The expression of PLS3 in CTCs is associated with prostate cancer risk. Further study of PLS3+ CTCs for prognosis prediction is required for clinical application in prostate cancer patients.