The prognostic value of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in patients with hormone-naïve oligometastatic prostate cancer (HNoMPC) undergoing cytoreductive radical prostatectomy (CRP) is unknown.

To determine the pre- and postoperative prognostic value of CTC enumeration in patients undergoing CRP.

Thirty-three patients with HNoMPC from the prospective, single-arm ProMPT trial who underwent CRP between 2014 and 2015 at the Martini-Klinik were evaluated. Follow-up visits for all patients were conducted every 6 mo up to 36 mo after CRP and included serial detection of CTCs in 7.5 ml blood samples using the CellSearch system.

CRP.

CTC enumerations before and after CRP, and their prognostic value on metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer-free survival and overall survival (OS) were analyzed using Kaplan-Meier plots and univariable Cox-regression analysis.

Sixteen patients (48.5%) had positive CTCs prior to CRP. A CTC count of ≥2 before or 6 mo after CRP was a prognostic factor for worse oncologic outcome. Compared with other biomarkers (prostate-specific antigen, lactate dehydrogenase, and bone-specific alkaline phosphatase), the prognostic value of CTCs was highest using Harrell’s C for OS (0.69), while the highest C-index could be achieved for a combination of conventional markers and CTC count (0.74). After progression to metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, CTC enumeration of ≥5 was prognostic for OS. The main limitation is the small sample size.

CTC enumeration contributes to prognostic information, which might help select HNoMPC patients who might benefit most from CRP.

In this report, we looked at the value of circulating tumor cell (CTC) determination in patients undergoing radical prostatectomy for oligometastatic prostate cancer. We could show that the number of CTCs was a prognostic factor at all analyzed time points and was more closely associated with prognosis than other biomarkers commonly used in daily clinical practice.

European urology focus. 2019 Jun 06 [Epub ahead of print]

Philipp C Mandel, Hartwig Huland, Anne Tiebel, Alexander Haese, Georg Salomon, Lars Budäus, Derya Tilki, Felix Chun, Hans Heinzer, Markus Graefen, Klaus Pantel, Sabine Riethdorf, Thomas Steuber

Martini-Klinik Prostate Cancer Center, University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany; Department of Urology, University Hospital Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany., Martini-Klinik Prostate Cancer Center, University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany., Martini-Klinik Prostate Cancer Center, University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany; Department of Urology, University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany., Department of Urology, University Hospital Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany., Department of Tumour Biology, University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany., Martini-Klinik Prostate Cancer Center, University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany; Department of Urology, University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany. Electronic address: .

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