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Quantitative real-time RT-PCR detection for CEA, CK20 and CK19 mRNA in peripheral blood of colorectal cancer patients

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Abstract

This study is aimed at establishing a sensitive approach to detect disseminated tumor cells in peripheral blood and evaluate its clinical significance. A total of 198 blood samples including 168 from colorectal carcinoma (CRC) patients and 30 from healthy volunteers were examined by quantitative real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) to evaluate the expression of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), cytokeratin 20 (CK20) and cytokeratin 19 (CK19) mRNA. CEA mRNA was detected in 35.8% of patients and 3.3% of controls, CK20 mRNA in 28.3% of patients and 6.7% of controls, and CK19 mRNA in 41.9% of patients and 3.3% of controls. CEA and CK20 mRNA positive ratio increased with the advancing Dukes stages, but there was no significant difference in positive ratio between any two stages (P>0.05). Also, relatively high positive ratio of CEA, CK20 and CK19 mRNA expression was observed in some CRC patients with earlier Dukes stages. A higher positive ratio was obtained when two or three detection markers were combined compared to a single marker. Our study indicates that quantitative real-time RT-PCR detection for CEA, CK20 and CK19 mRNA in peripheral blood is a valuable tool for monitoring early stage dissemination of CRC cells in blood circulation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cancer Institute, the Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310009, China

    Xu Dong, Li Xu-fen, Zheng Shu & Jiang Wen-zhi

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  1. Xu Dong
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  2. Li Xu-fen
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  3. Zheng Shu
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  4. Jiang Wen-zhi
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Correspondence to Zheng Shu.

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Project (No. 021103004) supported by the Science and Technology Development Program of Zhejiang Province, China

Note: The first two authors contributed equally to this work

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Xu, D., Li, Xf., Zheng, S. et al. Quantitative real-time RT-PCR detection for CEA, CK20 and CK19 mRNA in peripheral blood of colorectal cancer patients. J. Zhejiang Univ. - Sci. B 7, 445–451 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1631/jzus.2006.B0445

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1631/jzus.2006.B0445

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