CTC measurement after adjuvant chemotherapy- correlation w increasd recurrence risk?

[Lani]

http://www.oncologystat.com/journals/journal_scans/Cytokeratin_19_mRNA_Positive_Circulating_Tumor_Cel ls_After_Adjuvant_Chemotherapy_in_Patients_With_Ea rly_Breast_Cancer.html

[Mary Anne in TX]

http://www.nnpkit.com/veridex/cellsearch/

made sense to me.

Thanks a million, Lani!
ma

[Mary Anne in TX]

another great article on CTCs
http://clincancerres.aacrjournals.org/cgi/content/full/12/21/6403?ijkey=xNvW7N.sRRUpk&keytype=ref&siteid=aacrjnls

[alicem]

I have not heard of this test before. Is this CTC test currently only being used for patients who have metastatic breast cancer, or can anyone have it done?

[Mary Anne in TX]

Alice, I just asked for it! I had read so much about it and wanted one more test along with tumor markers, scans and brain MRI to know where I stood. Helped my brain, if nothing else! ma

[Hopeful]

This is the most intriguing paragraph to me:

"CK-19 mRNA in CTCs was detected in 41% of the patients prior to the start of adjuvant chemotherapy and in 32.7% upon completion of such therapy. Among the 258 patients initially testing negative for CK-19 mRNA prior to chemotherapy, 21.7% tested positive at completion. Among the 179 patients initially testing positive for CK-19 mRNA prior to chemotherapy, 51.4% tested negative at completion." (emphasis mine)

Can't this also mean the treatment itself made them worse, not better?

Hopeful

[Mary Anne in TX]

Or would it mean it just didn't work and the disease progressed?
Interesting. ma