Evaluation of circulating tumor cells in colorectal cancer using flow cytometry

We aimed to evaluate the prognostic value of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and the impact of intraoperative tumor manipulation on CTCs in colorectal cancer (CRC) patients.

We performed a prospective study on 40 patients with CRC stages I to IV who received curative surgery using the no-touch technique. Flow cytometry was used to identify CTCs in peripheral blood samples (4 mL/sample) collected at two surgical moments: skin incision (T1) and after surgical resection (T2). A threshold of ≥4 CTCs/4 mL blood was established for considering patients CTC positive.

In the univariate analysis, CTC evaluation at T2 was correlated with female sex, vascular invasion, tumor localization in the colon and metastatic lymph nodes. In the multivariate analysis, only female sex and colon cancer maintained statistical significance. At a medium follow-up of 15 months (1-25 months), the mortality rate was 10% (n = 4), with no significant differences between the overall survival of T1 or T2 CTC-positive and CTC-negative patients.

Flow cytometry is a feasible CTC identification technique in CRC, and although surgical manipulation has no influence on CTC numbers, CTCs may serve as a prognostic and predictive factor.