Dynamics of three-dimensional telomere profiles of circulating tumor cells in patients with high-risk prostate cancer who are under going androgen deprivation and radiation therapies

摘要

Introduction:Accurate assessment and monitoring of the therapeutic efficacy of locally advanced prostate cancer remains a major clinical challenge. Contrary to prostate biopsies, circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are a cellular source repeatedly obtainable by blood sampling and could serve as a surrogate marker for treatment efficacy. In this study, we used size-based filtration to isolate and enumerate CTCs from the blood of 20 patients with high-risk (any one of cT3, Gleason 810, or prostate-specific antigen>20 ng/ml), nonmetastatic, and treatment-naive prostate cancer before and after androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) and radiation therapy (RT).