Evidence map›Paper›PMID 23763955›Full record

ArticleBMC cancer2013

Detection of cancer before distant metastasis.

Frank A W Coumans, Sabine Siesling, Leon W M M Terstappen

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC cancer, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 44 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
44citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

44 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Role of circulating tumor cell clusters in breast cancer.Translational breast cancer research : a journal focusing on translational research in breast cancer · 2026
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Frank A W Coumans
Sabine Siesling
Leon W M M Terstappen

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundTo establish a distant metastasis (DM) cells must disseminate from the primary tumor and overcome a series of obstacles, the metastatic cascade. In this study we develop a mathematical model for this cascade to estimate the tumor size and the circulating tumor cell (CTC) load before the first metastasis has formed from a primary breast cancer tumor.

methodsThe metastatic cascade is described in discrete steps: 1. local tumor growth; 2. dissemination into circulation; 3. survival in circulation; 4. extravasation into tissue; and 5. growth into a metastasis. The model was built using data and relationships described in the literature to predict the relationship between tumor size and probability of distant metastasis for 38715 patients with surgically removed TXNXM0 primary breast cancer from the Netherlands Cancer Registry. The model was calibrated using primary tumor size, probability of distant metastasis and time to distant metastasis for 1489 patients with stage T1BNXM0 (25% of total patients with T1BNXM0). Validation of the model was done with data for all patients.

resultsFrom the time to distant metastasis of these 38715 breast cancer patients, we determined a tumor doubling time of 1.7 ± 0.9 months. Fitting the data for 25% of T1B patients estimates a metastatic efficiency of 1 metastasis formed per 60 million disseminated tumor cells. Validation of the model to data of patients in all T-stages shows good agreement between model and epidemiological data. To reduce the 5-year risk of distant metastasis for TXNXM0 from 9.2% to 1.0%, the primary tumor needs to be detected and removed before it reaches a diameter of 2.7 ± 1.6 mm. At this size, the model predicts that there will be 9 ± 6 CTC/L blood.

conclusionsTo reduce the rate of distant metastasis in surgically treated TXNXM0 breast cancer to 1%, imaging technology will need to be able to detect lesions of 2.7 mm in diameter or smaller. Before CTC detection can be applied in the early disease setting, sensitivity will need to be improved by at least 15-fold and combined with technology that minimizes false positives.

Indexed as

Models, TheoreticalBreast NeoplasmsFemaleFollow-Up StudiesHumansNeoplasm MetastasisNeoplasm StagingNeoplastic Cells, CirculatingPrognosis

Identifiers

PMID23763955
PMCPMC3684526

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.