Search

Background: Various devices for isolating and detecting circulating tumor cells (CTCs) have been developed, whereas the CellSearch® system has been clinically used in numerous prostate CTC studies. CTCs might become more useful surrogate markers of prostate cancer, and they should be measured in all settings, but a smaller, low-cost CTC capture system is required. Methods: An inexpensive and highly sensitive microfluidic CTC-capture polymeric chip, developed by the Toyama Industrial Technology Center, as described in the following text, was used to assess the number of CTCs from patients with metastatic prostate cancer. After verifying that cultured human prostate cancer cells (PC3 and LNCaP) could be captured with the chip coated with anti–epithelial cell adhesion molecule (CD326) antibody, whole blood samples of 14 patients with prostate cancer were screened. Results: The average capture efficacy of PC3 cells was 94.60% in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) and 83.82% in whole blood. The average capture efficacy of LNCaP cells was 82.73% in PBS and 75.78% in whole blood. CTCs were detected by the chip device in all 14 patients with metastatic prostate cancer using 2-mL blood samples. Although fewer CTCs were detected in patients with oligometastases, all patients with multiple distant metastases had CTCs. The average CTC count was 48 cells/mL (range 1–81 cells/mL). Conclusion: This CTC-chip will be able to capture CTCs and be useful to check CTCs as a surrogate marker in prostate cancer with smaller samples and lower cost in any small institution. Keywords: Circulating tumor cells, CTC-chip, Epithelial cell adhesion molecule, Prostate cancer

Background: Whether antithrombotic agents should be stopped before prostate biopsy is unsettled. We investigated the impact of antithrombotic agents on bleeding complications after prostate biopsy. Materials and methods: Among the patients who underwent transrectal ultrasound-guided prostate biopsy from June 2006 to December 2013 at Ebina General Hospital, Kanagawa, Japan, 1817 cases were retrospectively assessed. Patients were divided into two groups: those not taking antithrombotic agents (control group) and those taking them (experimental group). The frequency and severity of bleeding complications after the procedure were compared. The severity of bleeding events was graded using the Common Terminology Criteria for Advanced Events vol. 4.0. Results: Hemorrhagic complications were classified into grades 1 to 3. Patients with complications of Grade 2 and above needed treatment. As for the Grade 1 event, there were no differences between two groups. The frequency of more than Grade 2 bleeding events was 1.7% and 3.5% in the control and experimental group, respectively; the odds ratio was 2.18 (P = 0.039). Grade 3 events occurred in seven patients of the control group (0.5%) and four patients of the experimental group (1.2%). Conclusions: The present study showed that continuation of antithrombotic agents increased the frequency of hemorrhagic complications requiring intervention. It suggests that attention should be paid to the patients taking antithrombotic agents before prostate biopsy. Keywords: Anticoagulants, Biopsy, Hemorrhage, Platelet aggregation inhibitors, Prostate