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Title: Counting Tumour Cells in Blood Can Predict Treatment Benefit in Prostate Cancer
URL: http://www.pslgroup.com/dg/225316.htm
Doctor's Guide
July 7, 2008

LUGANO, Switzerland -- July 7, 2008 -- Counting the number of tumour cells circulating in the bloodstream of patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer can accurately predict how well they are responding to treatment, according to new study.

David Olmos, MD, The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, London, United Kingdom, presented the findings at the ESMO Conference Lugano (ECLU 2008), organised by the European Society for Medical Oncology.

"Our study shows that circulating tumour cell counts could provide information about how patients are responding to therapy earlier than other markers such as prostate-specific antigen or time-to-disease progression," said Dr. Olmos. "We have observed that patients with declining numbers of circulating tumour cells can see a change in their initial prognosis, reflecting a potential benefit from therapy."

Among the 119 patients in the study, researchers found that those with the lowest circulating cell counts had the longest survival on average.

"Cancer cells can be detected in the circulating blood by a range of methods," Dr. Olmos said. "The technique we used in our study is classified as a cytometric approach. We use an antibody that is widely expressed by epithelial cancer cells, and then use a range of cell-staining techniques to ensure it is a cancer cell."

"Because these circulating cells have broken away from either primary tumours or metastatic sites in other parts of the body, they could potentially be used to help study the specific characteristics of the cancer and perhaps personalise therapy."

SOURCE: European Society for Medical Oncology

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