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Detection of Survivin-expressing circulating cancer cells in the peripheral blood of breast cancer patients by a RT-PCR ELISA

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Abstract

Survivin mRNA expression was detected in 69.2%–93.8% of primary breast carcinomas, but is rarely expressed in normal breast tissues and hematopoietic cells. The objective of this study was to investigate the significance that the detection of Survinin-expressing circulating breast cancer cells in the peripheral blood has on clinical outcomes. The detection method was based on a RT-PCR ELISA technique developed in our laboratory. Sixty-seven breast cancer patients in various stages and 135 normal healthy women were investigated. Survivin-expressing circulating cancer cells were detected in the peripheral blood samples from 34 (50.7%) out of 67 breast cancer patients, but not in the healthy women that were used as controls. The presence of Survivin-expressing circulating breast cancer cells was found to be significantly associated with various clinicopathological parameters such as vessel infiltration, histological grade, tumor size, nodal status, ER/PgR status, Her-2 status and clinical stages of the disease (P < 0.01). During a follow-up period of 36 months, 9 out of 11 (81.8%) breast cancer patients that had a positive Survivin-expressing at the time of the initial assay test suffered a relapse of the disease, whereas recurrence was only found in 2 out of 6 (33.3%) breast cancer patients that had a negative Survivin-expression. Thus, the detection of circulating cancer cells expressing Survivin mRNA could provide valuable information for the prediction of metastasis and recurrence of breast cancer.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chengdu Bio-Engineering Institute for Cancer Research, Chengdu, Sichuan, P. R. China

    Shang-Mian Yie, Bie Luo & Shang-Rong Ye

  2. Department of Oncology, Sichuan Provincial Hospital, Sichuan Academy of Medical Sciences, Chengdu, Sichuan, P. R. China

    Nai-Yao Ye & Ke Xie

  3. Core Laboratory, Sichuan Provincial Hospital, Sichuan Academy of Medical Sciences, Chengdu, Sichuan, P. R. China

    Shang-Mian Yie

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  1. Shang-Mian Yie
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  2. Bie Luo
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Correspondence to Shang-Mian Yie.

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Yie, SM., Luo, B., Ye, NY. et al. Detection of Survivin-expressing circulating cancer cells in the peripheral blood of breast cancer patients by a RT-PCR ELISA. Clin Exp Metastasis 23, 279–289 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10585-006-9037-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10585-006-9037-7

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