International Journal of Cancer and Oncology | 2015-05-13

Adaptative evolution of circulating tumor cells in metastatic colorectal cancer: a case report

José Serrano Fernández

Abstract

Purpose: In metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) the detection and characterization of CTCsis especially important to identify treatment resistances that some patients might develop. The presence of divergences between CTC and primary tumor have direct divergences consequences in therapeutic responses. Experimental Design: CTCs wereisolated by immunomagnetic techniques using a multi-CK ferromagnetic beads labeled antibodies (CK3-11D5) and CTCs detection through immunocytochemicalmethods. The molecular characterization of K-Rasmutation was analyzed by 3D digital-PCR. We aimed to characterize these biomarkers in CTCs and correlate the characteristic of primary tumor Results:In a mCRC patient under chemotherapeutic and biologic treatment presented CTCs with K-RAS mutations, mutations which were absent in his primary tumor. The relapse of this patient was detected by cytological criteria before standard clinical assessment. Conclusion: The characterization of CTCs not only can identify aggressive clones which differ from both primary and metastatic tumors in mCRC which can determine the response to treatment

Keywords: Circulating tumor cells, treatment, primary tumor, genetic heterogeneity, colon cancer.