Bilgesu Ersan Yazici, Ozen Ozensoy Guler, Ahmet Carhan, Elif Ercan and Ender Simsek*
Background/aims: Despite state-of-the-art diagnostic/therapeutic approaches, cancer accounts for the majority of mortality rate annually, and patients with breast cancer are not exception. So, a comprehensive understanding on the biological activities of Circulating Tumor Cells (CTCs) seems as a more effective cancer biomarker. This study aims to investigate the importance of detected CTCs for identification of metastatic cells in patients with breast cancer.
Materials and methods: Peripheral blood samples were collected from 11 patients with breast cancer, and 8 healthy volunteers. CD45 coupled magnetic microbeads were used to enrich CTCs. Then, the cells were exposure with fluorochrome-labeled antibodies, being cultured in an optimized condition, and subsequently analyzed by BD FACS Aria™ III Cell Sorter. Statistical analysis of correlation was done by SPSS version 21.0.
Results: No statistically-significant difference was found between results related to the tumor staging, ER, PR, Cerb-B2, CEA, CA15-3, and CTC count in patients with breast cancer (p<0.05). Meanwhile a significant correlation was determined between presence of EpCAM +CTC, and CEA levels.
Conclusion: Results of our study provide a biological tool for a better prognostication and patient stratification aimed at improving clinical outcomes in precision oncology for patients with breast cancer.
