Yu J, Bai Y, Jin L, Zhang Z, Yang Y. A Prospective Long-Term Follow-Up Study: The Application of Circulating Tumor Cells Analysis to Guide Adjuvant Therapy in Stage II Colorectal Cancer.
Ann Surg Oncol 2023;
30:8495-8500. [PMID:
37598121 DOI:
10.1245/s10434-023-14168-x]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2023] [Accepted: 08/03/2023] [Indexed: 08/21/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND
The efficacy of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in the selection of stage II colorectal cancer (CRC) patients for adjuvant chemotherapy remains inconclusive.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to validate the necessity of adjuvant chemotherapy for stage II CRC patients with positive postoperative CTCs.
METHODS
The clinicopathological features and overall survival (OS) of a cohort of 70 patients with confirmed CRC were collected and analyzed.
RESULTS
The total rate of positive CTCs was 55.7%, while the average OS was 70.8 months and the OS rate was 75.7% (53/70). These 70 patients were divided into four subgroups, including a CTC-negative group with non-adjuvant chemotherapy (CHEMO-/CTC-) versus a CTC-positive group with non-adjuvant chemotherapy (CHEMO-/CTC+), CHEMO+/CTC- versus CHEMO+/CTC+, CHEMO-/CTC- versus CHEMO+/CTC-, and CHEMO+/CTC+ versus CHEMO-/CTC+; the total numbers in each subgroup were 25 versus 32, 6 versus 7, 25 versus 6, and 7 versus 32, respectively. The average OS of the CHEMO-/CTC- and CHEMO-/CTC+ groups was 82.0 and 68.1 months, respectively (p = 0.020); the average OS of the CHEMO+/CTC- and CHEMO+/CTC+ groups was 83.6 months and 76.4 months, respectively (p = 0.963); the average OS of the CHEMO-/CTC- and CHEMO+/CTC- groups was 82.0 months and 83.6 months, respectively (p = 0.999); and the average OS of the CHEMO+/CTC+ and CHEMO-/CTC+ groups was 76.4 months and 68.1 months, respectively (p = 0.247).
CONCLUSIONS
Positive CTCs are a potential prognostic marker for stage II CRC.
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