Mutational analysis of circulating tumor cells from colorectal cancer patients and correlation with primary tumor tissue

PLoS One. 2015 Apr 22;10(4):e0123902. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0123902. eCollection 2015.

Abstract

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) provide a non-invasive accessible source of tumor material from patients with cancer. The cellular heterogeneity within CTC populations is of great clinical importance regarding the increasing number of adjuvant treatment options for patients with metastatic carcinomas, in order to eliminate residual disease. Moreover, the molecular profiling of these rare cells might lead to insight on disease progression and therapeutic strategies than simple CTCs counting. In the present study we investigated the feasibility to detect KRAS, BRAF, CD133 and Plastin3 (PLS3) mutations in an enriched CTCs cell suspension from patients with colorectal cancer, with the hypothesis that these genes` mutations are of great importance regarding the generation of CTCs subpopulations. Subsequently, we compared CTCs mutational status with that of the corresponding primary tumor, in order to access the possibility of tumor cells characterization without biopsy. CTCs were detected and isolated from blood drawn from 52 colorectal cancer (CRC) patients using a quantum-dot-labelled magnetic immunoassay method. Mutations were detected by PCR-RFLP or allele-specific PCR and confirmed by direct sequencing. In 52 patients, discordance between primary tumor and CTCs was 5.77% for KRAS, 3.85% for BRAF, 11.54% for CD133 rs3130, 7.69% for CD133 rs2286455 and 11.54% for PLS3 rs6643869 mutations. Our results support that DNA mutational analysis of CTCs may enable non-invasive, specific biomarker diagnostics and expand the scope of personalized medicine for cancer patients.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Biomarkers, Tumor / genetics
  • Colorectal Neoplasms / genetics*
  • Colorectal Neoplasms / pathology*
  • DNA Mutational Analysis*
  • Epithelial Cells / metabolism
  • Epithelial Cells / pathology
  • Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition / genetics
  • Feasibility Studies
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Neoplastic Cells, Circulating / metabolism*
  • Neoplastic Cells, Circulating / pathology
  • Neoplastic Stem Cells / metabolism
  • Neoplastic Stem Cells / pathology

Substances

  • Biomarkers, Tumor

Grants and funding

This study was funded by Scholarship—Grant by the Experimental Research Center ELPEN Pharmaceuticals (E.R.C.E), the Hellenic Society for Gastrointestinal Oncology (H.S.G.O.), and a non-profit organization of Greek Society of Cancer Biomarkers and Targeted Therapy.AP is employed by Experimental Research Center ELPEN Pharmaceuticals. Experimental Research Center ELPEN Pharmaceuticals provided support in the form of salary for author AP, but did not have any additional role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. The specific role of this author is articulated in the ‘author contributions’ section.