Prognostic impact of the number of viable circulating cells with high telomerase activity in gastric cancer patients: A prospective study

  • Authors:
    • Hiroaki Ito
    • Haruhiro Inoue
    • Satoshi Kimura
    • Tohru Ohmori
    • Fumihiro Ishikawa
    • Keigo Gohda
    • Jun Sato
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  • Published online on: April 29, 2014     https://doi.org/10.3892/ijo.2014.2409
  • Pages: 227-234
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Abstract

The identification of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in peripheral blood is a useful approach to estimate prognosis, monitor disease progression and measure treatment effects in several types of malignancies. We have previously used OBP-401, a telomerase-specific, replication-selective, oncolytic adenoviral agent carrying the green fluorescent protein (GFP) gene. GFP-positive cells (GFP+ cells) were counted under a fluorescence microscope. Our results showed that the number of at least 7.735 µm in diameter GFP+ cells (L-GFP+ cells) in the peripheral blood was a significant marker of prognosis in gastric cancer patients. However, tumor cells undergoing epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) have been reported to be smaller in size than cells without EMT features; thus, CTCs undergoing EMT may escape detection with this technique. Therefore, in this study, we analyzed the relationship between patient outcome and the number of GFP+ cells of any size. We obtained peripheral blood samples from 65 patients with gastric cancer. After infection of OBP-401, GFP+ cells were counted and measured. The relationship between the number of GFP+ cells and surgical outcome was analyzed. The median follow-up period of the surviving patients was 36 months. A significant difference in overall survival was found between patients with 0-5 and patients with ≥6 L-GFP+ cells. No clear relationship was established between the number of small-sized GFP+ cells and patient prognosis. The number of L-GFP+ cells was significantly related to overall survival in patients with gastric cancer. The detection of L-GFP+ cells using OBP-401 may be a useful prognostic marker in gastric cancer.
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July-2014
Volume 45 Issue 1

Print ISSN: 1019-6439
Online ISSN:1791-2423

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Spandidos Publications style
Ito H, Inoue H, Kimura S, Ohmori T, Ishikawa F, Gohda K and Sato J: Prognostic impact of the number of viable circulating cells with high telomerase activity in gastric cancer patients: A prospective study. Int J Oncol 45: 227-234, 2014
APA
Ito, H., Inoue, H., Kimura, S., Ohmori, T., Ishikawa, F., Gohda, K., & Sato, J. (2014). Prognostic impact of the number of viable circulating cells with high telomerase activity in gastric cancer patients: A prospective study. International Journal of Oncology, 45, 227-234. https://doi.org/10.3892/ijo.2014.2409
MLA
Ito, H., Inoue, H., Kimura, S., Ohmori, T., Ishikawa, F., Gohda, K., Sato, J."Prognostic impact of the number of viable circulating cells with high telomerase activity in gastric cancer patients: A prospective study". International Journal of Oncology 45.1 (2014): 227-234.
Chicago
Ito, H., Inoue, H., Kimura, S., Ohmori, T., Ishikawa, F., Gohda, K., Sato, J."Prognostic impact of the number of viable circulating cells with high telomerase activity in gastric cancer patients: A prospective study". International Journal of Oncology 45, no. 1 (2014): 227-234. https://doi.org/10.3892/ijo.2014.2409