TY - JOUR T1 - Absence of HER2 Expression of Circulating Tumor Cells in Patients with Non-Metastatic Esophageal Cancer JF - Anticancer Research JO - Anticancer Res SP - 5665 LP - 5669 DO - 10.21873/anticanres.12902 VL - 38 IS - 10 AU - ANNA WOESTEMEIER AU - TARIK GHADBAN AU - SABINE RIETHDORF AU - KATHARINA HARMS-EFFENBERGER AU - LEONIE KONCZALLA AU - FAIK G. UZUNOGLU AU - JAKOB R. IZBICKI AU - KLAUS PANTEL AU - MAXIMILIAN BOCKHORN AU - MATTHIAS REEH Y1 - 2018/10/01 UR - http://ar.iiarjournals.org/content/38/10/5665.abstract N2 - Background/Aim: The clinical significance of circulating tumor cells (CTC) in non-metastatic esophageal cancer (EC) remains controversial and the cellular and molecular characteristics of CTCs are poorly understood. Especially the frequency and oncological impact of HER2 expression in CTCs in patients with EC have not been evaluated until now. Materials and Methods: In this single-center, prospective study, peripheral blood samples were obtained preoperatively from 45 patients who were diagnosed with resectable EC. CTC detection and HER2 expression were performed using the CellSearch System. Data were correlated with clinicopathological parameters and patient outcomes. Results: The study included 13 patients with squamous cell carcinomas (SCC) and 32 patients with adenocarcinomas (AC). HER2 gene amplification in the primary tumor was detected in 9.1% of patients. One or more CTCs were detected in 15.6% (SCC 1/13; AC 6/32) of the patients. None of the detected CTCs showed HER2 expression. Patients with CTCs showed significantly shorter relapse-free (p<0.001) and overall survival (p=0.015) than CTC-negative patients. Conclusion. This is the first study analyzing HER2 expression and the clinical significance of CTCs in patients with non-metastatic EC using an automated immunomagnetic detection system. HER2 expression in CTCs is very rare in patients with non-metastatic EC and seems to have a low clinical and oncological impact ER -