Yijun Zhou1, Tao Ouyang1, Tianfeng Wang1, Yuntao Xie1, Zhaoqing Fan1, Tie Fan1, Jinfeng Li2. 1. Breast Cancer Prevention & Treatment Center, Key laboratory of Carcinogenesis and Translational Research of Ministry of Education, Peking University Cancer Hospital & Institute, Beijing 100142, China. 2. Breast Cancer Prevention & Treatment Center, Key laboratory of Carcinogenesis and Translational Research of Ministry of Education, Peking University Cancer Hospital & Institute, Beijing 100142, China. Email: jinfeng_li@hotmail.com.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the correlations between circulating tumor cell (CTC) and clinicopathologic characteristics of tumors obtained by core needle biopsy in axillary lymph node positive primary breast cancer patients. METHODS: The peripheral venous blood samples were collected from 126 patients with axillary lymph node positive primary breast cancer and were detected to found CTCs using the CellSearch automatic detection system. The associations between CTCs and clinicopathologic characteristics of tumors were analyzed in axillary lymph node positive primary breast cancer patients. All patients were female, age ranging from 27 to 65 years (median, 49 years). RESULTS: One or more CTCs were detected from the peripheral blood in 25.4% (32/126) patients. The positive rate of CTCs was 36.2% (17/47) in the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER-2) (+) patients, 19.0% (15/79) in the HER-2 (-) patients. In univariate analysis, there were significant differences about the positive rate of CTCs between the two groups (χ² = 4.592, P < 0.05). In multivariate analysis, the risk of circulating tumor cells positive in HER-2 (+) patients was 2.712 times higher than in HER-2 (-) patients (OR = 2.712, 95% CI: 1.117-6.584, P = 0.027), whereas the positive rate of CTCs in axillary lymph node positive primary breast cancer patients showed no significant differences among the different subgroups with regards to age, menopausal status, the T staging of the tumor, histological type, histological grade, hormone receptor status and Ki-67 expression level (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: There are significant correlations between the presence of CTCs and the HER-2 status of the tumor in axillary lymph node positive primary breast cancer patients. No significant correlations are found between the presence of CTCs and the age, menopausal status, T staging of the tumor, histological type, histological grade, hormone receptor status and Ki-67 expression level.
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the correlations between circulating tumor cell (CTC) and clinicopathologic characteristics of tumors obtained by core needle biopsy in axillary lymph node positive primary breast cancerpatients. METHODS: The peripheral venous blood samples were collected from 126 patients with axillary lymph node positive primary breast cancer and were detected to found CTCs using the CellSearch automatic detection system. The associations between CTCs and clinicopathologic characteristics of tumors were analyzed in axillary lymph node positive primary breast cancerpatients. All patients were female, age ranging from 27 to 65 years (median, 49 years). RESULTS: One or more CTCs were detected from the peripheral blood in 25.4% (32/126) patients. The positive rate of CTCs was 36.2% (17/47) in the humanepidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER-2) (+) patients, 19.0% (15/79) in the HER-2 (-) patients. In univariate analysis, there were significant differences about the positive rate of CTCs between the two groups (χ² = 4.592, P < 0.05). In multivariate analysis, the risk of circulating tumor cells positive in HER-2 (+) patients was 2.712 times higher than in HER-2 (-) patients (OR = 2.712, 95% CI: 1.117-6.584, P = 0.027), whereas the positive rate of CTCs in axillary lymph node positive primary breast cancerpatients showed no significant differences among the different subgroups with regards to age, menopausal status, the T staging of the tumor, histological type, histological grade, hormone receptor status and Ki-67 expression level (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: There are significant correlations between the presence of CTCs and the HER-2 status of the tumor in axillary lymph node positive primary breast cancerpatients. No significant correlations are found between the presence of CTCs and the age, menopausal status, T staging of the tumor, histological type, histological grade, hormone receptor status and Ki-67 expression level.