Clinical utility of serial analysis of circulating tumour cells for detection of minimal residual disease of metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma
Menée à partir d'échantillons sanguins prélevés sur 21 patients atteints d'un carcinome rhinopharyngé métastatique, cette étude multicentrique évalue l'utilité d'analyser en série les cellules tumorales circulantes (numération, charge mutationnelle) pour détecter la présence d'une maladie résiduelle
Background : Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is an important cancer in Hong Kong. We aim to utilise liquid biopsies for serial monitoring of disseminated NPC in patients to compare with PET-CT imaging in detection of minimal residual disease.
Method : Prospective serial monitoring of liquid biopsies was performed for 21 metastatic patients. Circulating tumour cell (CTC) enrichment and characterisation was performed using a sized-based microfluidics CTC chip, enumerating by immunofluorescence staining, and using target-capture sequencing to determine blood mutation load. PET-CT scans were used to monitor NPC patients throughout their treatment according to EORTC guidelines.
Results : The longitudinal molecular analysis of CTCs by enumeration or NGS mutational profiling findings provide supplementary information to the plasma EBV assay for disease progression for good responders. Strikingly, post-treatment CTC findings detected positive findings in 75% (6/8) of metastatic NPC patients showing complete response by imaging, thereby demonstrating more sensitive CTC detection of minimal residual disease. Positive baseline, post-treatment CTC, and longitudinal change of CTCs significantly associated with poorer progression-free survival by the Kaplan–Meier analysis.
Conclusions : We show the potential usefulness of application of serial analysis in metastatic NPC of liquid biopsy CTCs, as a novel more sensitive biomarker for minimal residual disease, when compared with imaging.
British Journal of Cancer , résumé, 2020