Detection and Clinical Significance of Circulating Cancer Cells in Patient Undergoing Radical Cystectomy

Detection and Clinical Significance of Circulating Cancer Cells in Patient Undergoing Radical Cystectomy

Very few factors may be identified as prognostic for patients with bladder cancer undergoing radical cystectomy. Recently, detection of circulating tumor cells has shown to be very promising in anticipating both the likelyhood of distant metastases and survival in patients with breast cancer, melanoma, prostate cancer and other malignancies. In the present study we both tested the detection rate of circulating tumor cells using a PCR based methodology in the peripheral blood of patients undergoing radical cystectomy, and we further correlated our results with their clinical outcome.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Prior trans urethral resection of the bladder (TUR)
• Histological confirmation of a transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) of the bladder
• ECOG Performance Status ≤ 2
• WBC count ≥4,000/μL; platelet count ≥150,000/μL; creatinine ≤1.8 mg/dL; AST, ALT, and alkaline phosphatase ≤2X the upper limit of normal, normal total bilirubin
• recent (within 6 weeks of cystectomy) total body CT imaging study excluding distant metastases as well as upper urinary tract TCC

Exclusion Criteria:

• Neo-adjuvant chemotherapy (either planned or already performed)
• Patients receiving investigational medications
• Subjects not suitable for a radical cystectomy
• Patients not willing to participate