外科ジャーナル

Variations in the Number of Circulating Tumor Cells During the Surgical Sequence for Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer

Abstract

Dragos-Viorel Scripcariu, Gabriel Dimofte, Dan Ferariu

Aim: This study aims to assess the variation of the levels of circulating tumor cells during surgical manipulation, by in vivo evaluation at three key points during treatment.

Materials and methods: This was a pilot study with 20 included patients with mid and low locally advanced rectal cancer, with neoadjuvant treatment. The device used to evaluate the number of circulating tumor cells in the bloodstream of the patients was the “Detektor Cancer” GILUPI Cell Collector®. The tests were performed at 8 weeks after the end of the neoadjuvant treatment, at three key moments: in the preoperative period, during surgery - after the surgical dissection and at 7 days postoperatively.

Results: There was an increase in the number of circulating tumor cells after the surgical sequence, but no statistical significance could be achieved due to the small number of patients included in the study.

Conclusion: The circulating tumor cell number is a useful biomarker for the prognosis of the patients with colorectal cancer, demonstrated through several studies. However, there is need for standardization in this field of research. Our study, although with visible differences between the preoperative, intraoperative and postoperative values, showed no statistical significance.