Association of mitotic circulating tumor cells with clinical outcomes in metastatic breast cancer.

Abstract

e15045 Background: Increased cancer cell mitosis in tumor tissue is widely regarded as an indicator of aggressive disease, a predictor of shorter survival, and an indicator of response to specific anthracycline based chemotherapies. Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are cancer cells that detach from primary tumors, enter the bloodstream, and seed metastatic sites, which in patients (pts) with metastatic breast cancer (mBC) are also predictors of poor prognosis and reduced therapy response. Furthermore, small preliminary studies have identified a specific subtype of mitotic CTCs that appears to correlate with poor survival rates compared to CTC detection alone. However, larger studies have yet to be conducted to validate the clinical utility of mitotic CTCs. In this large multi-institutional prospective study, we isolated CTCs from the blood of n = 155 mBC pts to subtype mitotic CTCs to assess progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) over 2 years. Methods: Peripheral blood samples (7.5ml) were prospectively collected from n = 155 mBC pts progressing on systemic therapies and prior to new systemic therapy induction (i.e., chemotherapy n = 90, hormone therapy n = 13, immunotherapy n = 51, targeted therapy n = 62). Samples were processed using CellSieve microfilters to isolate CTCs via size exclusion and fluorescently stained for CD45, Cytokeratin, and DAPI. CTCs were imaged, enumerated, and subtyped based on the presence of ≥1 mitotic event, using established visual indicators. PFS and OS were assessed over 2 years by censored univariate and multivariate analyses. Results: CTCs were detected in ~45% (n = 70/155) of pts, while mitotic CTCs were identified in a subset of this group, ~23% (n = 35/155). The presence of any CTC was associated with poor outcomes (PFS HR = 2.16, 95%CI = 1.4-3.2, p = 0.0002 and OS: HR = 2.51, 95%CI = 1.5-4.0, p = 0.0002). The presence of mitotic CTCs correlated with significantly poorer outcomes (PFS: HR = 5.6, 95%CI = 3.1-10.2, p < 0.0001 and OS: HR = 7.3, 95%CI = 3.7-14.5, p < 0.0001). Overall, pts with no CTCs had a median PFS (mPFS) of 7 months and median OS (mOS) of 24 months, pts with non-mitotic CTCs had a mPFS of 6 months and mOS of 15 months; pts with both CTCs and mitotic CTCs had a mPFS of 3 months and mOS of 5 months. Notably, 97% of pts with a mitotic CTC progressed within 6 months, regardless of systemic therapy type. Interestingly at 2 years, a sole non-progressive pt with a mitotic CTC was receiving alpelisib (a specialized PI3KCA inhibitor). Conclusions: Overall, the detection of CTCs indicated poor outcomes in pts, with mitotic CTCs correlating with significantly more aggressive disease and further reduced survival rates regardless of systemic therapy type. This study highlights the need for larger, more comprehensive studies to expand upon and validate these findings.