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Updated: May 23, 2025

Adaptation of Semiautomated Circulating Tumor Cell CTC Assays for Clinical and Preclinical Research Applications
Published on: February 28, 2014
Development of a prediction model for ctDNA detection (Cir-Predict) in breast cancer
Chiaki Nakauchi1, Nanae Masunaga2, Naofumi Kagara3
1Department of Breast Surgery, ISEIKAI International General Hospital, 4-14 Minamioogimachi, Kita-ku, Osaka City, Osaka, Japan. breast@iseikaihp.or.jp.
Purpose:
The detection of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) is a valuable method to predict the risk of recurrence and to detect real-time gene changes. The amount of ctDNA is affected by many factors. Moreover, the detection rate of ctDNA varies from report to report.
Methods:
The present study evaluated differentially expressed genes using a DNA microarray assay for gene expression in tumors with and without detected ctDNA and constructed a prediction model for the detectability of ctDNA in breast tumor tissues. The model, named Cir-Predict, consisted of 126 probe sets (111 genes) and was constructed in a training set of breast cancer patients (n = 35) and validated in a validation set (n = 13).
Results:
The accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity in training and validation sets were over 90%, and Cir-Predict was significantly associated with ctDNA detection independently of the other conventional clinicopathological parameters in training and validation sets (P < 0.001, P = 0.014, respectively). Cir-Predict (+) was significantly associated with worse recurrence-free survival (P = 0.006). Pathway analysis revealed that nine pathways including tight junction and cell cycle tended to be related to ctDNA detectability.
Conclusion:
Cir-Predict not only provides information useful for breast cancer treatment, but also helps the understanding of the mechanism by which ctDNA is detected.

