Edoardo Virgilio1, Enrico Giarnieri2, Maria Rosaria Giovagnoli2, Monica Montagnini2, Antonella Proietti2, Rosaria D'Urso2, Paolo Mercantini3, Stefano Valabrega3, Genoveffa Balducci3, Marco Cavallini3. 1. Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences and Translational Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, Sapienza University, St. Andrea Hospital, Rome, Italy aresedo1992@yahoo.it edoardo.virgilio@uniroma1.it. 2. Department of Clinical and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, Sapienza University, St. Andrea Hospital, Rome, Italy. 3. Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences and Translational Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, Sapienza University, St. Andrea Hospital, Rome, Italy.
Abstract
BACKGROUND/AIM: Detecting free tumor cells in the peritoneal lavage fluid of gastric cancer patients permits to assess a more accurate prognosis, predict peritoneal recurrence and select cases for a more aggressive treatment. Currently, cytology and molecular biology comprise the two most popular methods of detection that are under constant study by researchers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We burrowed into the available literature comparing cytological with molecular detection of free intraperitoneal gastric cancer cells. PubMed, Science Direct, Scopus and Google Scholar were the search engines investigated. RESULTS: As of 2017, 51 dedicated studies have been published. Messenger RNA of carcinoembryonic antigen was the genetic target most frequently described. The genetic technique is usually superior to cytology in sensitivity (38-100% vs. 12.3-67% respectively), whereas cytological examination tends to show a slight pre-eminence in specificity (approximately 100%). CONCLUSION: So far, given the imperfection of each method, employment of both cytology and molecular examination seem to be mandatory. Copyright
BACKGROUND/AIM: Detecting free tumor cells in the peritoneal lavage fluid of gastric cancerpatients permits to assess a more accurate prognosis, predict peritoneal recurrence and select cases for a more aggressive treatment. Currently, cytology and molecular biology comprise the two most popular methods of detection that are under constant study by researchers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We burrowed into the available literature comparing cytological with molecular detection of free intraperitoneal gastric cancer cells. PubMed, Science Direct, Scopus and Google Scholar were the search engines investigated. RESULTS: As of 2017, 51 dedicated studies have been published. Messenger RNA of carcinoembryonic antigen was the genetic target most frequently described. The genetic technique is usually superior to cytology in sensitivity (38-100% vs. 12.3-67% respectively), whereas cytological examination tends to show a slight pre-eminence in specificity (approximately 100%). CONCLUSION: So far, given the imperfection of each method, employment of both cytology and molecular examination seem to be mandatory. Copyright