Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are cancer cells that are released from a tumor into the bloodstream. The presence of CTCs in peripheral blood has been associated with metastasis formation in patients with breast cancer. Therefore, the molecular characterization of CTCs may improve diagnostics and support treatment decisions. We performed gene expression profiling to evaluate the enriched CTCs and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of breast cancer patients using an expression panel of 55 breast cancer-associated genes. The study revealed several significantly differentially expressed genes in the CTC-positive samples, including a few that were exclusively expressed in these cells. However, the expression of these genes was barely detectable in the PBMC samples. Some genes were differentially expressed in PBMCs, and the expression of these genes was correlated with tumor grade and the formation of metastasis. In this study, we have shown that the enriched CTCs of breast cancer patients overexpress genes involved in proteolytic degradation of the extracellular matrix (ECM) as well as genes that play important roles in the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) process that may occur in these cells.

Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics 2nd Faculty of Medicine Charles University and University Hospital Motol Prague Czech Republic

Laboratory of Cancer Immune Control and Escape UMRS 1138 INSERM Cordeliers Research Center Paris France

Oncology Clinic 1st Faculty of Medicine Charles University Prague Czech Republic

Sotio a s Prague Czech Republic

Sotio a s Prague Czech Republic; Department of Immunology Charles University 2nd Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Motol Prague Czech Republic

TATAA Biocenter Göteborg Sweden; Laboratory of Gene Expression Institute of Biotechnology Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic v v i Prague Czech Republic

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Gene Expression Analysis of Immunomagnetically Enriched Circulating Tumor Cell Fraction in Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer

Molecular characterization of circulating tumor cells from patients with metastatic breast cancer reflects evolutionary changes in gene expression under the pressure of systemic therapy