The Frequency of Circulating Tumour Cells and the Correlation with the Clinical Response to Standard Chemoradiotherapy in Locally Advanced Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma: A Prospective Study

Yu Qian,1,2,* Yuan Wu,3,* Zilong Yuan,4 Xiaohui Niu,5 Yaoyao He,4 Jun Peng,6 Fuxiang Zhou,1 Shaozhong Wei,7 Desheng Hu,3 Yunfeng Zhou1 1Department of Radiation and Medical Oncology, Zhongnan Hospital, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Medical Oncology, Hubei Cancer Hospital, Wuhan, Hubei, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Radiation Oncology, Hubei Cancer Hospital, Wuhan, Hubei, People’s Republic of China; 4Department of Radiology, Hubei Cancer Hospital, Wuhan, Hubei, People’s Republic of China; 5College of Informatics, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, People’s Republic of China; 6Department of Pathology, Hubei Cancer Hospital, Wuhan, Hubei, People’s Republic of China; 7Department of Surgery, Hubei Cancer Hospital, Wuhan, Hubei, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Yunfeng ZhouDepartment of Radiation and Medical Oncology, Zhongnan Hospital, 169 Donghu Road, Wuhan, Hubei, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86 139 0715 4247Fax +86 27 6781 2892Email yfzhouwhu@163.comDesheng HuDepartment of Radiation Oncology, Hubei Cancer Hospital, 16 Zhuodaoquan S Road, Wuhan, Hubei, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86 27 8767 0318Fax +86 27 8767 0151Email hds13907174495@163.comPurpose: Circulating tumour cells (CTCs) have been found to correlate with treatment response and prognosis in some cancers; however, such correlations have not been reported in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). We aimed to determine the relationship between CTCs and the treatment response in NPC.Patients and methods: In this prospective study, we ascertained the karyotype of CTCs and identified a possible correlation between karyotype and treatment response in locally advanced NPC (LANPC). We prospectively collected peripheral blood from LANPC patients. CTCs were measured by negative enrichment with immunofluorescence in situ hybridization (imFISH) and a centromere of chromosome 8 (CEP8) probe. Chromosome 8 was karyotyped in CTCs, which were identified as triploid, tetraploid or multiploid. Patients were then treated with platinum-based induction chemotherapy followed by concurrent chemoradiotherapy. CTCs were measured before and after treatment.Results: We detected CTCs in 27 of 50 (54%) patients, which served as a baseline value. The results were independent of age, smoking history and NPC clinical stage. All of the 27 evaluable enrolled patients with detectable CTCs showed decreases in both total CTCs and CTCs of different ploidies after treatment (P