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Prevalence of circulating tumor cells in early breast cancer patients 2 and 5 years after adjuvant treatment

  • Preclinical study
  • Published:
Breast Cancer Research and Treatment Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

Several studies have provided evidence on the prognostic relevance of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) detected before and after chemotherapy regarding overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) in early breast cancer (EBC). We provide data on the prevalence of CTCs 2 and 5 years after primary diagnosis in a cohort of patients with EBC.

Methods

The SUCCESS study is a multicenter, prospective, randomized trial comparing PFS in primary breast cancer patients undergoing one of two adjuvant chemotherapy regimens followed by 2 versus 5 years of treatment with zoledronate. CTCs from patients without signs of breast cancer recurrence were analyzed in peripheral blood using the FDA cleared CellSearch® System (Veridex, USA) 2 and 5 years after primary diagnosis.

Results

CTCs were detected at 2 and 5 years after primary diagnosis in 96 (16.7%) and 47 (8.2%) of the 574 patients, respectively. There were no associations between CTC status and patient and tumor characteristics or treatment regimens. In 442 (77.0%) patients, no CTCs were detected at either of the two time points, and in 11 patients (1.9%), CTCs were found at both 2 and 5 years after primary diagnosis. In 85 (14.8%) patients, CTCs were present 2 years after primary diagnosis but not after 5 years, while 36 (6.3%) patients had CTCs in their blood only at the 5-year follow-up.

Conclusions

In patients with EBC, CTCs can be detected even 5 years after primary diagnosis without clinical signs of disease recurrence.

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Funding

This translational research portion of the SUCCESS A trial has been supported by AstraZeneca, Chugai, Lilly, Novartis, Sanofi-Aventis, and Veridex.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, University Hospital Ulm, Prittwitzstrasse 43, 89075, Ulm, Germany

    Emanuel C. A. Bauer, Fabienne Schochter, Peter Widschwendter, Amelie DeGregorio, Thomas W. P. Friedl, Wolfgang Janni, Brigitte Rack & Christoph Scholz

  2. Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Maistraße 11, 80337, Munich, Germany

    Ulrich Andergassen

  3. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Comprehensive Cancer Center Erlangen-Nuremberg, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Schwabachanlage 14, 91054, Erlangen, Germany

    Peter A. Fasching & Matthias W. Beckmann

  4. Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Heinrich-Heine-University Duesseldorf, Moorenstr. 5, 40225, Düsseldorf, Germany

    Tanja Fehm

  5. National Center for Tumor Diseases, University Hospital, Neuenheimer Feld 440, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany

    Andreas Schneeweiss

  6. Department of Tumor Biology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistraße, 52, 20251, Hamburg, Germany

    Klaus Pantel

Authors
  1. Emanuel C. A. Bauer
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  2. Fabienne Schochter
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  3. Peter Widschwendter
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  4. Amelie DeGregorio
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  6. Thomas W. P. Friedl
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  7. Peter A. Fasching
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  8. Tanja Fehm
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  9. Andreas Schneeweiss
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  10. Matthias W. Beckmann
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  11. Klaus Pantel
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  12. Wolfgang Janni
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  13. Brigitte Rack
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  14. Christoph Scholz
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Consortia

the SUCCESS Study Group

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Emanuel C. A. Bauer.

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Conflict of interest

B. Rack, A. Schneeweiss, T. Fehm, M. W. Beckmann, and W. Janni have received research funding from AstraZeneca, Chugai, Lilly, Novartis, and Sanofi-Aventis. B. Rack, T. Fehm, K. Pantel, and W. Janni received research funding and speaker honoraria from Veridex. M. W. Beckmann acted as advisors for Novartis and Sanofi-Aventis. A. Schneeweiss received speaker honoraria from AstraZeneca, Chugai, Lilly, Novartis, and Sanofi-Aventis. C. P. A. Fasching received research funding and speaker honoraria from Novartis. E. C.A. Bauer, F. Schochter, P. Widschwendter, A. DeGregorio, T.W.P. Friedl, and C. Scholz have no conflict of interest to declare.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in the study involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration, its later amendments, and comparable ethical standards.

Informed consent

Written informed consent was obtained from all study participants prior to study inclusion.

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Bauer, E.C.A., Schochter, F., Widschwendter, P. et al. Prevalence of circulating tumor cells in early breast cancer patients 2 and 5 years after adjuvant treatment. Breast Cancer Res Treat 171, 571–580 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-018-4856-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-018-4856-1

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