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Comparative analyses of bone marrow micrometastases in breast and gastric cancer
Author(s) -
Funke Ilona,
Fries Stefanie,
Rolle Michaela,
Heiss Markus M.,
Untch Michael,
Bohmert Heinz,
Schildberg Friedrich W.,
Jauch Karl W.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
international journal of cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.475
H-Index - 234
eISSN - 1097-0215
pISSN - 0020-7136
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-0215(19960315)65:6<755::aid-ijc8>3.0.co;2-y
Subject(s) - breast cancer , bone marrow , medicine , cancer , ca 15 3 , pathology , cancer cell , oncology , cancer research , ca15 3
This study is a comparative analysis of the prevalence, absolute number and aggregation status of bone marrow micrometastases (BMM) between breast (n = 234) and gastric (n = 102) cancer patients based on a standardized number of 1 × 10 6 bone marrow‐derived cells per patient. Additionally, expression of the epithelial cell adhesion molecule E‐cadherin was analyzed on disseminated tumor cells. A positive BMM status was demonstrated in 88/234 breast and 45/102 gastric cancer patients. The presence of CK18 + cells positively correlated with parameters of advanced tumor progression in breast, but not in gastric cancer. Interestingly, 25.2% of the node‐negative patients already had micrometastatic cells in the bone marrow at diagnosis. Regarding the absolute number of CK18 + cells and the frequency of CK18 + cell clusters, no significant difference was found between the 2 tumor types. However, clusters consisting of more than 10 CK18 + cells (type II clusters) were present exclusively in breast cancer patients. Additionally, co‐expression of CK18 and E‐cadherin was detectable in 15/21 micrometastases‐positive breast but in only 1/9 gastric cancer patients. While prevalence of micrometastatic cells in bone marrow is discussed as an early indicator for systemic disease, aggregation status and a certain antigen profile might be indicative for site‐specific differences in the manifestation pattern of solid metastases. © 1996 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.