Detection of micrometastasis in perioperative primary esophageal cancer patients using real-time quantitative reverse transcrtption-PCR / 肿瘤研究与临床

ABSTRACT

Objective To establish a desirable quantitative assay system to evaluate the correlation between surgical manipulation and micrometastasis in primary esophageal cancer patients.Methods 118 pe- ripheral blood samples from 40 esophageal cancer patients undergoing radical resection were collected before surgery(B-1),immediately after surgery(B0)and at the third day postoperatively(B+3).Based on real-time quantitative reverse transcription-PCR,carcinoembryonic antigen(CEA)mRNA gene was used in the detec- tion.12 patients with benign tumor and 13 healthy volunteers were collected as negative control groups.Re- sults The median of CEA mRNA copies at B-1,B0 and B+3 were 1592,13 314 and 6221 copies/ml blood, respectively.CEA mRNA expression levels were found to be significantly higher at both B0 and B+3 than that of B-1(P=0.0001 and 0.0209,respectively).No significant difference was found between B0 and B+3(P= 0.4396).Conclusion Surgical manipulation on esophageal cancer patients increases the probability of mi- crometastasis.Therefore,adjuvant therapy is needed during perioperative stage.