Detection of circulating tumor cells in patients with esophagogastric or pancreatic adenocarcinoma using the CellSearch® system: An observational feasibility study

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in the blood of cancer patients have been demonstrated to be of prognostic value regarding metastasis and survival. The CellSearch (R) system has been certified for the detection of CTCs and as a prognostic tool in patients with metastatic breast, colon and prostate cancer. Few studies have evaluated the detection of CTCs originating from esophagogastric or pancreatic cancer with the CellSearch (R) system. In the present small pilot study, a total of 16 patients with either esophagogastric (n=8) or pancreatic (n=8) adenocarcinomas at various disease stages were randomly screened and included. A total of 7.5 ml of blood was drawn from each patient and analyzed for CTCs using the CellSearch (R) device. CTCs could be detected in 1 out of 8 patients (12.5%) with esophagogastric and in 7 out of 8 patients (87.5%) with pancreatic cancer. The preliminary data obtained from this observational feasibility study suggested that the CellSearch (R) system may become a valuable tool for the detection of CTCs in patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma, whereas the usefulness in patients with early-stage esophagogastric adenocarcinoma may be limited. This study clearly points towards a requirement for larger studies focusing on patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma at various disease stages and assessing CTCs, whereas patients with esophagogastric adenocarcinomas should be part of further pilot studies.