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Updated: Oct 18, 2025
Microarray-based Identification of Individual HERV Loci Expression: Application to Biomarker Discovery in Prostate Cancer
Published on: November 2, 2013
Application of Primary/Secondary Circulating Tumor Cells for the Prediction of Biochemical Recurrence in
Liang Cao1, Peng Hao1, Dong Lin2
1Department of Urology, Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College, 1 Maoyuan South Road, Shunqing, Nanchong, 637000 Sichuan, China.
Background:
Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) have been regarded as an independent prognostic marker for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). Its prognostic value, however, in nonmetastatic prostate cancer (NMPC) is still unclear.
Purpose:
To elucidate whether CTCs can predict the biochemical recurrence (BCR) in NMPC patients following radical prostatectomy (RP) or radiotherapy (RT).
Methods:
PubMed, Cochrane Database, and Embase and the references in relevant studies were systematically searched. Studies that investigated the correlation of CTCs and BCR in NMPC patients after RP or RT were identified and reviewed. Overall odds ratio (OR) of BCR in such patients with/without CTCs was pooled. We also calculated and pooled overall prevalence of BCR in such CTC-positive patients.
Results:
In total, 12 studies comprising 1917 participants were eligible for the meta-analysis and showed that the presence of secondary circulating tumor cells (SCTCs) is associated with a higher BCR rate of 59% (95% CI: 22%-88%) in patients with NMPC after RP or RT (OR = 6.12; 95% CI: 2.22-16.85; P < 0.001). However, regardless of the presence of primary circulating tumor cells (PCTCs), it has not been shown to be associated with higher BCR.
Conclusions:
Our research demonstrated that SCTC-positive patients are associated with higher BCR compared to SCTC-negative patients in NMPC. Therefore, it is recommended that NMPC patients undergo CTC surveillance intensively after RP or RT.
