Detection of Circulating Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma and Their Impact on Circulating Tumor Cells.
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 40616388.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1002/hed.28239 and PMC identifier 12541681.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Like tumor cells, cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) can enter the bloodstream and may function in systemic circulation. Circulating CAFs (cCAFs) were isolated from the peripheral blood of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) patients using CD45 depletion and detected by FAP expression using RT-qPCR. Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) were detected through the expression of epithelial markers (EPCAM, EGFR, and MET). We analyzed the association between cCAF positivity and clinical factors, CTC characteristics, and verified tumor tissue relationships using public datasets. Of the 97 patients, 19.6% were positive for cCAFs and 61.9% for CTCs. cCAF positivity was significantly associated with lymph node metastasis, CTC positivity, and lower EPCAM levels on CTCs. In tumor tissues, FAP expression inversely correlated with EPCAM expression in tumor cells. cCAFs may contribute to the survival of CTCs and tumor progression through changes in the characteristics of CTCs.
Medical subject headings
- Neoplastic Cells, Circulating
- Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts
- Head and Neck Neoplasms
- Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and Neck
- Carcinoma, Squamous Cell