Predictive Value of Circulating Tumor Cells in Prognosis of Stage III/IV Colorectal Cancer After Oxaliplatin-based First-line Chemotherapy

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BACKGROUND/AIM: Insufficient data exist to support the concept of the circulating tumor cell (CTC) level as a prognostic factor for platinum-based first-line chemotherapy. This study investigated the impact of CTCs on the prognosis of patients with advanced colorectal cancer (CRC) after receiving platinum-based chemotherapy. Analyses were carried out of clinicopathological features and molecular phenotypes to clarify independent risk factors for a high CTC count. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients diagnosed with stage III/IV CRC (n=76) were included in the study. The blood samples of patients were evaluated for CTCs using the CellRich™ platform system. Immunohistochemistry (Ias used to analyze epithelial-mesenchymal transition-associated biomarkers E-cadherin and vimentin. Univariate and logistic regression analyses were then conducted to analyze the risk factors for CTC expression. Additionally, the influence of oxaliplatin on disease-free survival after first-line chemotherapy or during chemotherapy was analyzed through a 2-year follow-up. RESULTS: group (p<0.01). In addition, univariate analysis revealed that the tumor M-stage, tumor location, RAS mutation, high expression of vimentin, and deletion of E-cadherin expression were correlated with a high CTC count. Multivariate analysis suggested that the presence of RAS gene mutations and high vimentin expression were independent risk factors for high CTC loads (p<0.01). CONCLUSION: CTC positivity can indicate the efficacy of first-line chemotherapy with oxaliplatin in stage III/IV colorectal cancer. This may be linked to tumor epithelial-mesenchymal transition in patients with CTCs. Moreover, RAS gene mutation and high expression of vimentin were identified as independent risk factors for a high CTC count.