Association of circulating tumor cells, megakaryocytes and a high immune-inflammatory environment in metastatic breast cancerGrašič-Kuhar, Cvetka (Avtor) Jernej, Silvester (Avtor) Mencinger, Marina (Avtor) Ovčariček, Tanja (Avtor) Čemažar, Maja (Avtor) Miceska, Simona (Avtor) Modic, Živa (Avtor) Kuhar, Anamarija (Avtor) Jesenko, Tanja (Avtor) Kloboves-Prevodnik, Veronika (Avtor) breast cancercirculating tumor cellclustermegakaryocytepan-inflammatory valueoverall survivalLiquid biopsy is becoming an important source of new biomarkers during the treatment of metastatic cancer patients. Using size-based microfluid technology, we isolated circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from metastatic breast cancer patients to evaluate their presence and cluster formation, as well as the presence of megakaryocytes and immune-inflammatory blood cells, and to correlate their presence with clinicopathological data and overall survival (OS). In total, 59 patients (median age 60.4 years) were included in the study: 62.7% luminal A/B-like, 20.3% HER2-positive, and 17% triple-negative. Our results showed that at least one CTC was present in 79.7% and ≥5 CTCs in 35.2% of the patients. CTC clusters were present in patients with ≥5 CTCs only (in 19.2% of them), and megakaryocytes were present in 52% of all patients. The presence of CTC clusters and megakaryocytes was positively associated with the CTC count. Patients with low pan-inflammatory value (PIV), low systemic immune-inflammatory index (SII), and low relative change from baseline (ΔPIV%, ΔSII%) were associated with significantly higher OS than their counterparts. ΔPIV%, the presence of infection in the last month, and a long duration of metastatic disease were identified as independent prognostic factors for OS. The interplay of CTCs, CTC clusters, megakaryocytes, and PIV needs to be further explored.MDPI20232024-04-19 13:02:56Znanstveno delo88403sl