ArticleCancers2021
CNA Profiling of Single CTCs in Locally Advanced Esophageal Cancer Patients during Therapy Highlights Unexplored Molecular Pathways.
Article in Cancers, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 5 citations in OpenAlex.
- Circulating tumor cells as biomarkers in melanoma: techniques, challenges, and clinical applications.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2026Review
- Liquid biopsy perspectives in pleomorphic carcinoma of the lung: case report.Translational lung cancer research · 2025Article
- Gastroesophageal circulating tumor cell crosstalk with peripheral immune system guides CTC survival and proliferation.Cell death & disease · 2025Article
- Cell fusion as a driver of metastasis: re-evaluating an old hypothesis in the age of cancer heterogeneity.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Review
- Extracellular Vesicles, Circulating Tumor Cells, and Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors: Hints and Promises.Cells · 2024Review
- Article
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Authors and funding
11 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundHere, we monitored the evolution of CTCs spread in 11 patients affected by locally advanced EC who were undergoing therapy.
methodsIn this perspective study, we designed multiple blood biopsies from individual patients: before and after neoadjuvant chemo-radio therapy and after surgery. We developed a multi-target array, named Grab-all assay, to estimate CTCs for their epithelial (EpCAM/E-Cadherin/Cytokeratins) and mesenchymal/stem (N-Cadherin/CD44v6/ABCG2) phenotypes. Identified CTCs were isolated as single cells by DEPArray, subjected to whole genome amplification, and copy number aberration (CNA) profiles were determined. Through bioinformatic analysis, we assessed the genomic imbalance of single CTCs, investigated specific focal copy number changes previously reported in EC and aberrant pathways using enrichment analysis.
resultsLongitudinal monitoring allowed the identification of CTCs in at least one time-point per patient. Through single cell CNA analysis, we revealed that CTCs showed significantly dynamic genomic imbalance during treatment. Individual CTCs from relapsed patients displayed a higher degree of genomic imbalance relative to disease-free patients' groups. Genomic aberrations previously reported in EC occurred mostly in post-neoadjuvant therapy CTCs. In-depth analysis showed that networks enrichment in all time-point CTCs were inherent to innate immune system. Transcription/gene regulation, post-transcriptional and epigenetic modifications were uniquely affected in CTCs of relapsed patients.
conclusionsOur data add clues to the comprehension of the role of CTCs in EC aggressiveness: chromosomal aberrations on genes related to innate immune system behave as relevant to the onset of CTC-status, whilst pathways of transcription/gene regulation, post-transcriptional and epigenetic modifications seem linked to patients' outcome.
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