Abstract
BackgroundDespite advances in care, the 5 year overall survival for patients with relapsed and or metastatic sarcoma remains as low as < 35%. Currently, there are no biomarkers available to assess disease status in patients with sarcomas and as such, disease surveillance remains reliant on serial imaging which increases the risk of secondary malignancies and heightens patient anxiety.MethodsHere, for the first time reported in the literature, we have enumerated the cell surface vimentin (CSV+) CTCs in the blood of 92 sarcoma pediatric and adolescent and young adult (AYA) patients as a possible marker of disease.ResultsWe constructed a ROC with an AUC of 0.831 resulting in a sensitivity of 85.3% and a specificity of 75%. Additionally, patients who were deemed to be CSV+ CTC positive were found to have a worse overall survival compared to those who were CSV+ CTC negative. We additionally found the use of available molecular testing increased the accuracy of our diagnostic and prognostic tests.ConclusionsOur findings indicate that CSV+ CTCs have prognostic value and can possibly serve as a measure of disease burden.
Highlights
The current standard of care for patients with sarcoma includes molecular genetic testing
Our findings indicate that cell surface vimentin (CSV)+ circulating tumor cell (CTC) have prognostic value and can possibly serve as a measure of disease burden
cell surface vimentin (CSV+)CTCs Serve as Biomarkers of Pediatric Sarcomas
Summary
The current standard of care for patients with sarcoma includes molecular genetic testing. The purpose of this testing is often to obtain an accurate diagnosis of soft-tissue sarcoma, so as to reveal the severity of the disease and can be used in prognosis. Recent research has focused on the presence of fusion genes in sarcoma [1], which are caused by genetic instability and are accompanied by a poor prognosis. Information from molecular genetic testing could be combined with other liquid biopsy techniques to obtain a more accurate and complete picture of each individual’s disease status. There are no biomarkers available to assess disease status in patients with sarcomas and as such, disease surveillance remains reliant on serial imaging which increases the risk of secondary malignancies and heightens patient anxiety
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