Retrospective analysis finds lower CSF CTC counts improve survival in patients with NSCLC and LMD, suggesting biomarker utility.
Key Points
Evaluate the role of cerebrospinal fluid circulating tumor cells in assessing leptomeningeal disease in non-small cell lung cancer.
Retrospective clinical and genomic analysis of 148 patients with NSCLC and LMD undergoing CSF CTC testing.
Time-to-event analyses based on initial positive CSF CTC measurements or completion of proton craniospinal irradiation.
Next-generation sequencing for genomic alterations in CSF samples.
Patients with lower baseline CSF CTC counts (≤90 CTCs/3mL) had longer median overall survival (10.2 vs 6.6 months; HR 0.53, 95% CI 0.35–0.79; p=0.002).
A ≥30% reduction in CTCs post-pCSI was linked with longer median overall survival (13.1 vs 6.2 months; HR 0.15, 95% CI 0.05–0.47; p=0.0001).
Higher baseline CTC counts were associated with more frequent TP53 and MTAP genomic alterations.