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Background: Bearing multidimensional tumor-relevant information ranging from genomic alterations to proteomic makeup, circulating tumor cells (CTCs) constitute a promising material for liquid biopsy. The clinical validity of CTCs has been most extensively studied in metastatic breast cancer (MBC). The Cellsearch assay is currently the most widely used, while alternative strategies are pursued. A filtration-based microfluidic device has been described for CTC enrichment, but its clinical relevance remains unknown. Methods: In this preliminary study, we prospectively enrolled 47 MBC patients and evaluated the performance of the abovementioned CTC assay for tumor burden monitoring and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) status determination. Results: At baseline, 51.1% patients (24/47) were CTC positive. CTC count and positivity were also significantly higher in samples that accompanied poorer radiographic response evaluations. Serial blood draws suggested that CTC count enabled more accurate monitoring of tumor burden than serum markers carcinoembryonic antigen and cancer antigen 15-3. Also, in contrast to previous reports, CTC-HER2 status was moderately consistent with tumor-HER2 status. CTC-HER2 status assessment was further supported by HER2 copy number measurements in select samples. Conclusion: The preliminary results from this study suggest promise for the interrogated CDC assay in several aspects, including sensitive CTC detection, accurate disease status reflection, and HER2 status determination. More studies are warranted to validate these findings and further characterize the value of CTC assay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background:Lung cancer is one of the most common and a lethal malignancy in the world and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the most usual type. H19 long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) plays essential roles in tumor development. But its role in tumor metastasis is still unclear.Materials and Methods:MACC1 RNAi and Lentivirus-mediated H19-specific shRNA was used to establish H19 stable knocking-down A549 cells. Transwell assays were performed to examine the effect of H19 knocking-down on A549 cells migration and invasion. The downstream signaling proteins targeted by H19 were also examined by western blot. AG1478 and U0126 were used as the inhibitor of EGFR and ERK1/2, respectively.Results:The knockdown of H19 increased the migration and invasion of A549 cells, and knockdown of metastasis-associated in colon cancer 1 (MACC1) decreased the migration and invasion of A549 cells. Furthermore, MACC1 protein targeted by H19 was upregulated as well as the downstream signaling proteins including epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), β-catenin, extracellular-signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2). Inhibited the expression of EGFR or ERK1/2 significantly decreased the migration and invasion of tumor cells.Conclusion:Our findings showed that H19 functions as a suppressor of NSCLC and plays an important role in the migration and invasion of NSCLC. More importantly, H19 may regulate NSCLC metastasis through modulating cellular signaling pathway proteins related to cell proliferation and cell adhesion, including MACC1, EGFR, β-catenin and ERK1/2. These results put forward our understanding of the detailed mechanism of H19 lncRNA regulating the process of NSCLC metastasis. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Objective: To compare the efficacy of the erlotinib versus gefitinib in the first-line treatment of patients with advanced EGFR mutation-positive NSCLC., Methods: Fifty patients with untreated advanced EGFR mutation- positive NSCLC were randomly divided into gefitinib group (n=27) and erlotinib group (n=23). The progression-free survival, objective response rate and disease control rate were evaluated to compare the efficacy of gefitinib and erlotinib., Results: There were no significant differences in the objective response rate (P=0.711) and disease control rate (P=0.861) between the two groups. The progression-free survival of gefitinib group and erlotinib group was 8.0 months and 10.0 months, respectively. The efficacy of the two drugs was similar (P=0.293)., Conclusion: There is no significant differences between gefitinib and erlotinib in the first-line treatment of patients with advanced EGFR mutation-positive NSCLC.