Korean J Med.  2001 Jun;60(6):514-520.

Detection of disseminated tumor cells using reverse transcriptase PCR for cytokeratin 20 in peripheral blood isolates from gastric cancer patients

• Lee SH
• Jin JY
• Song CW
• Lee HJ
• Park JH
• Park YS
• Paik CN
• Lee JW
• Woo YS
• Kim CC

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The development of metastasis in cancer is one of the main problems after primary tumor resection. The identification of metastases is only possible in the follow-up investigation when there is already a solid tumor mass. Subclinical tumor cell dissemination can be detected by immunocytological staining of cells or by other molecular biological methods, like PCR. We investigated 22 peripheral blood isolates from gastric cancer patients with a cytokeratin (CK) 20 specific nested reverse transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR) for the detection of disseminated tumor cells at the time of diagnosis.
METHODS
Fresh heparinized peripheral bloods (about 10 mL) were obtained from 22 gastric cancer patients and 10 healthy doctors as controls. Nucleated cells were isolated by a density gradient method. RNA was isolated and then subjected to RT-PCR with CK 20 specific primers.
RESULTS
In gastric cancer, 3 of 22 (13.6%) peripheral blood isolates yielded a CK 20 mRNA positive result in a stage undependent manner.
CONCLUSION
We detected disseminated tumor cells in the peripheral blood isolated using CK 20 specific nested RT-PCR method. Studies on a larger scale are needed for further investigation on the relationship between positive rates of CK 20 mRNA and survival rates of stomach cancer, according to cancer stages.

Keyword

Stomach neoplasms; Keratin; Reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reac

MeSH Terms

Diagnosis
Follow-Up Studies
Heparin
Humans
Keratin-20*
Keratins*
Neoplasm Metastasis
Polymerase Chain Reaction
Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction*
RNA
RNA, Messenger
RNA-Directed DNA Polymerase*
Stomach Neoplasms*
Survival Rate
Heparin
Keratin-20
Keratins
RNA
RNA, Messenger
RNA-Directed DNA Polymerase