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EpCAM-based assays for epithelial tumor cell detection in cerebrospinal fluid

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Abstract

The diagnosis of leptomeningeal metastases (LM) of solid tumors is complicated due to low sensitivities of both magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and cytology. MRI has a sensitivity of 76% for the diagnosis of LM and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) cytology has a sensitivity of 44–67% at first lumbar puncture which increases to 84–91% upon second CSF sampling. Epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM) is expressed by solid tumors of epithelial origin like non-small-cell lung cancer, breast cancer or ovarium cancer. Recently, a CELLSEARCH® assay and flow cytometry laboratory techniques have been developed to detect circulating tumor cells (CTCs) of epithelial origin in CSF. These laboratory techniques are based on capture antibodies labelled with different fluorescent tags against EpCAM. In this review, we provide an overview of the available laboratory techniques and diagnostic accuracy for tumor cell detection in CSF. The reported sensitivities of the EpCAM-based CTC assays for the diagnosis of LM across the different studies are highly promising and vary between 76 and 100%. An overview of the different EpCAM-based techniques for the enumeration of CTCs in the CSF is given and a comparison is made with CSF cytology for the diagnoses of LM from epithelial tumors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Molecular Pathology, Netherlands Cancer Institute – Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, Amsterdam, Plesmanlaan 121, 1066 CX, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Mark T. J. van Bussel, Dick Pluim & Jan H. M. Schellens

  2. Department of Medical Oncology & Clinical Pharmacology, Netherlands Cancer Institute – Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, Amsterdam, Plesmanlaan 121, 1066 CX, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Mark T. J. van Bussel, Jos H. Beijnen & Jan H. M. Schellens

  3. Department of Pathology, Netherlands Cancer Institute – Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, Amsterdam, Plesmanlaan 121, 1066 CX, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Mijke Bol

  4. Division of Pharmacoepidemiology & Clinical Pharmacology, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of Science, Utrecht University, Universiteitsweg 99, 3584 CG, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Jos H. Beijnen & Jan H. M. Schellens

  5. Department of Neuro-oncology, Netherlands Cancer Institute – Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, Amsterdam, Plesmanlaan 121, 1066 CX, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Dieta Brandsma

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  1. Mark T. J. van Bussel
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  2. Dick Pluim
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Correspondence to Dieta Brandsma.

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van Bussel, M.T.J., Pluim, D., Bol, M. et al. EpCAM-based assays for epithelial tumor cell detection in cerebrospinal fluid. J Neurooncol 137, 1–10 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11060-017-2691-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11060-017-2691-6

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