Open AccessPrognostic Role of Circulating Tumor Cells in Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma: A Large, Multicenter, Prospective Trial
Author(s) -
Basso Umberto,
Facchinetti Antonella,
Rossi Elisabetta,
Maruzzo Marco,
Conteduca Vincenza,
Aieta Michele,
Massari Francesco,
Fraccon Anna Paola,
Mucciarini Claudia,
Sava Teodoro,
Santoni Matteo,
Pegoraro Cristina,
Durante Emilia,
Nicodemo Maurizio,
Perin Alessandra,
Bearz Alessandra,
Gatti Carlo,
Fiduccia Pasquale,
Diminutto Alberto,
Barile Carmen,
De Giorgi Ugo,
Zamarchi Rita,
Zagonel Vittorina
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
the oncologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.176
H-Index - 164
eISSN - 1549-490X
pISSN - 1083-7159
DOI - 10.1002/onco.13842
Subject(s) - medicine , hazard ratio , circulating tumor cell , renal cell carcinoma , sunitinib , oncology , pazopanib , metastatic breast cancer , progression free survival , prospective cohort study , confidence interval , metastasis , cancer , breast cancer , overall survival
Abstract Background Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) correlate with adverse prognosis in patients with breast, colorectal, lung, and prostate cancer. Little data are available for renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Materials and Methods We designed a multicenter prospective observational study to assess the correlation between CTC counts and progression‐free survival (PFS) in patients with metastatic RCC treated with an antiangiogenic tyrosine kinase inhibitor as a first‐line regimen; overall survival (OS) and response were secondary objectives. CTC counts were enumerated by the CellSearch system at four time points: day 0 of treatment, day 28, day 56 and then at progression, or at 12 months in the absence of progression. Results One hundred ninety‐five eligible patients with a median age of 69 years were treated with sunitinib (77.5%) or pazopanib (21%). At baseline, 46.7% of patients had one or more CTCs per milliliter (range, 1 to 263). Thirty patients had at least three CTCs, with a median PFS of 5.8 versus 15 months in the remaining patients ( p = .002; hazard ratio [HR], 1.99), independently of the International Metastatic RCC Database Consortium score at multivariate analysis (HR, 1.91; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.16–3.14). Patients with at least three CTCs had a shorter estimated OS of 13.8 months versus 52.8 months in those with fewer than three CTCs ( p = .003; HR, 1.99; multivariate analysis HR, 1.67; 95% CI, 0.95–2.93). Baseline CTC counts did not correlate with response; neither did having CTC sequencing counts greater than or equal to one, two, three, four, or five. Conclusion We provide prospective evidence that the presence of three or more CTCs at baseline is associated with a significantly shorter PFS and OS in patients with metastatic RCC. Implications for Practice This prospective study evaluated whether the presence of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in the peripheral blood correlates with activity of first‐line tyrosine kinase inhibitors in metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC). This study demonstrated that almost half of patients with metastatic RCC have at least one CTC in their blood and that those patients with at least three CTCs are at increased risk of early progressive disease and early death due to RCC. Studies incorporating CTC counts in the prognostic algorithms of metastatic RCC are warranted.