Autologous cell lines from circulating colon cancer cells captured from sequential liquid biopsies as model to study therapy-driven tumor changes

Sci Rep. 2018 Oct 29;8(1):15931. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-34365-z.

Abstract

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are important clinical indicators for prognosis and treatment efficacy. However, CTC investigation is hampered by their low number, making the establishment of permanent CTC lines very challenging. We derived and characterized nine CTC lines using blood samples from a patient with metastatic colorectal cancer collected before and after chemotherapy and targeted therapy, and during cancer progression. These cell lines displayed an intermediate epithelial/mesenchymal phenotype, stem-cell like characteristics, angiogenesis potential, an osteomimetic signature and the capacity to escape from the immune system. Moreover, they showed changes in mRNA and protein expression (e.g., DEFA6, ABCB1 and GAL), whereas analysis of chromosomal copy number aberrations revealed no significant variation over time. These data indicate that although CTC lines derived from sequential blood samples during therapy have common traits, treatment-resistant CTC clones with distinct phenotypic characteristics are selected over time.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Antineoplastic Agents / therapeutic use
  • Chromosome Aberrations
  • Cluster Analysis
  • Colonic Neoplasms / drug therapy
  • Colonic Neoplasms / genetics
  • Colonic Neoplasms / pathology*
  • DNA Copy Number Variations
  • DNA-Binding Proteins / metabolism
  • Humans
  • Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins / metabolism
  • Neoplastic Cells, Circulating / metabolism
  • Neoplastic Cells, Circulating / pathology*
  • Proteome / metabolism
  • Transcription Factors / metabolism
  • Tumor Cells, Cultured

Substances

  • Antineoplastic Agents
  • DKK1 protein, human
  • DNA-Binding Proteins
  • Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins
  • Proteome
  • SMARCA1 protein, human
  • Transcription Factors