Characterisation of circulating tumour cell phenotypes identifies a partial-EMT sub-population for clinical stratification of pancreatic cancer

Alexander Semaan, Vincent Bernard, Dong U. Kim, Jaewon J. Lee, Jonathan Huang, Nabiollah Kamyabi, Bret M. Stephens, Wei Qiao, Gauri R. Varadhachary, Matthew H. Katz, Yu Shen, Francis Anthony San Lucas, Peter Gascoyne, Hector A. Alvarez, Anirban Maitra, Paola A. Guerrero

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

33 Scopus citations

Abstract

Background: Limited accessibility of the tumour precludes longitudinal characterisation for therapy guidance in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Methods: We utilised dielectrophoresis-field flow fractionation (DEP-FFF) to isolate circulating tumour cells (CTCs) in 272 blood draws from 74 PDAC patients (41 localised, 33 metastatic) to non-invasively monitor disease progression. Results: Analysis using multiplex imaging flow cytometry revealed four distinct sub-populations of CTCs: epithelial (E-CTC), mesenchymal (M-CTC), partial epithelial-mesenchymal transition (pEMT-CTC) and stem cell-like (SC-CTC). Overall, CTC detection rate was 76.8% (209/272 draws) and total CTC counts did not correlate with any clinicopathological variables. However, the proportion of pEMT-CTCs (prop-pEMT) was correlated with advanced disease, worse progression-free and overall survival in all patients, and earlier recurrence after resection. Conclusion: Our results underscore the importance of immunophenotyping and quantifying specific CTC sub-populations in PDAC.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1970-1977
Number of pages8
JournalBritish journal of cancer
Volume124
Issue number12
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 8 2021

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Oncology
  • Cancer Research

MD Anderson CCSG core facilities

  • Biostatistics Resource Group

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