Abstract

mRNA Profiles of Circulating Tumor Cells and Extracellular Vesicles in Matched Samples From Metastatic Breast Cancer Patients

Corinna Keup, Researcher, University Hospital of Essen

The analysis of RNA enclosed in circulating tumor cells (CTCs) or extracellular vesicles (EVs) may be sensitive enough to detect disease progression earlier than contemporary visual staging methods. A prediction of the ideal therapy strategy via characterization of CTCs or EVs would be even more beneficial. We, for the first time, compared RNA profiles of CTCs and EVs in metastatic breast cancer (MBC) patients to get insights about their feasibility for therapy stratification.

CTCs were isolated by positive immunomagnetic selection targeting EpCAM, EGFR and HER2 with the AdnaTest EMT-2/StemCell SelectTM, QIAGEN GmbH and EVs were isolated by affinity-based binding to a spin column with the exoRNeasy Serum/Plasma protocol, QIAGEN GmbH. mRNA was purified, reverse transcribed and pre-amplified cDNA was analysed for 18 genes by multimarker qPCR assays (AdnaTest TNBC Panel prototype, QIAGEN GmbH).