Di-san junyi daxue xuebao (May 2020)

Clinical significance of circulating tumor cells and their homeobox gene B7 expression in patients with bone and soft tissue sarcomas

  • YANG Songwei,
  • WANG Liang,
  • LI Hujin,
  • SHAN Dongli,
  • WANG Quan,
  • CHEN Biao

DOI
https://doi.org/10.16016/j.1000-5404.201912123
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 42, no. 10
pp. 1047 – 1052

Abstract

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Objective To investigate the clinical significance of the count and type of circulating tumor cell (CTC) and the expression of homeobox gene B7 (HOXB7) gene in the CTC in patients with bone and soft tissue sarcomas. Methods We retrospectively analyzed the data of 40 patients with newly diagnosed bone and soft tissue sarcomas from May, 2017 to July, 2019 at Chongqing University Cancer Hospital. After the diagnosis, all the patients were examined for peripheral blood CTC using the CanPatrolTM System, and the isolated CTC was characterized using a multiple messenger RNA in situ analysis (MRIA). The expression of HOXB7 gene in the CTC was detected using a RNA probe. The correlations of CTC counts, cell type and the expression level of HOXB7 gene with clinical stages and metastasis of bone and soft tissue sarcomas were analyzed. Results of the 40 patients with sarcoma, CTC including epithelial CTC, mesenchymal CTC (M-CTC), and biophenotypic epithelial/mesenchymal CTC were detected in 37 patients before treatment. The CTC counts correlated significantly with Enneking stages (P=0.002). The number of CTC and the ratio of mesenchymal CTC were significantly greater in stage Ⅲ patients than in stage Ⅱ patients (P=0.040 and 0.001, respectively). Positive expression of HOXB7 in the CTC was detected in 56.9% of the stage Ⅲ patients, a rate significantly higher than that in patients in other stages (P=0.003). Subgroup analysis of osteosarcoma showed that the positivity rate of HOXB7 in the CDC was significantly higher in stage Ⅲ patients than in stage Ⅱ patients (P=0.025). Conclusion In patients with bone and soft tissue sarcomas, the counts and types of peripheral blood CTC and HOXB7 expression in the CDC are closely correlated with metastasis and clinical Enneking stages, and can serve as indicators for assessing tumor metastasis, therapeutic effect and prognosis of the patients.

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