Prognostic value of circulating tumor cells and disseminated tumor cells in patients with ovarian cancer

open access: Journal of Ovarian Research | Full text | Prognostic value of circulating tumor cells and disseminated tumor cells in patients with ovarian cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Recent studies have shown diagnostic and prognostic values of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and disseminated tumor cells (DTCs) in various cancers, including ovarian cancer. We aimed to evaluate the association of CTCs and/or DTCs with the clinical outcomes of ovarian cancer. Clinical studies of CTCs/DTCs of ovarian cancer were included for systematic review and meta-analysis. A total of 236 studies were screened but only 16 qualified studies with 1623 subjects were included....

.... In total, there were 1623 patients, and the sample size of each study was ranged from 43 to 216. Most studies were published between 2002 and 2014, 4 studies from US, 11 studies from Europe and 1 study from Asia. There were 6 studies including 459 patients recorded the prognostic values of DTCs detected in bone marrow and 10 studies including 1164 patients recorded the prognostic values of CTCs detected in peripheral blood. Seven out of 16 studies had positive results of CTC/DTC effects on survival. Four out of 16 had negative results, remaining 5 studies had controversial conclusions....
 

Conclusion

In conclusion, available evidence supports that CTCs/DTCs were significantly associated with advanced tumor stage, residual diseases, and treatment response, but not with histological types and lymph node metastasis in patients with ovarian cancer. Moreover, CTCs also were significantly associated with a poorer survival. CTCs/DTCs could be a reliable non-invasive prognostic marker for ovarian cancer. Clinical management based on CTCs/DTCs could be useful for determining which patients would potentially benefit from adjuvant therapy.