We proudly present the new article “CXCR4 positive circulating tumor cells as a potential prognostic biomarker in patients with metastatic prostate cancer treated with radiotherapy” by Daria Klusa et al.
While the tumor-initiating properties of cancer cells are plastic and reversible, the population of cancer stem cells (CSCs) – tumor cells capable of initiating and maintaining tumor growth – is of utmost clinical importance. The fundamental properties of CSCs, including self-renewal potential and clonogenic capacity, make them a unit of tumor evolution and a critical target for anti-cancer treatment. Furthermore, a growing body of data suggests that CSCs in the primary tumors, circulating tumor cells (CTCs) found in the bloodstream of cancer patients, and metastasis-initiating cells can share similar features suggesting that CSCs can be the origin of metastatic expansion. Previously, Dubrovska’s team has found aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) activity and high expression of C-X-C chemokine receptor type 4 (CXCR4) as markers of prostate CSCs with increased radioresistance.
This recently published study by Daria Klusa et al. demonstrated that a population of CXCR4-positive CTCs is dynamically regulated during radiotherapy and correlates with a biochemical response and metastatic burden in patients with prostate cancer and, therefore, can potentially serve as a prognostic biomarker. This study results from a collaboration between µBONE researchers Claudia Peitzsch, Anna Dubrovska, Mechthild Krause, Michael Baumann, and Annett Linge (project 6) together with Tobias Lange and Vera Freytag (project 13) as well as Sven Perner and Anne Offermann (previous funding period of µBONE).
Our team members, Ielizaveta Gorodetska (on the left) and Andrea Petzold (on the right), are working to further validate the prognostic potential of CTC count and molecular profiling of CTCs in prostate cancer patients with metastatic prostate cancer and correlate it to tumor burden.
The link for the publication is below:
Daria Klusa, Fabian Lohaus, Andre Franken, Marian Baumbach, Monica Cojoc, Paul Dowling, Annett Linge, Anne Offermann, Steffen Löck, Dejan Hušman , Mahdi Rivandi , Bernhard Polzer, Vera Freytag, Tobias Lange, Hans Neubauer, Michael Kücken, Sven Perner, Tobias Hölscher, Anna Dubrovska, Mechthild Krause, Ina Kurth, Michael Baumann, Claudia Peitzsch. Dynamics of CXCR4 positive circulating tumor cells in prostate cancer patients during radiotherapy. Int J Cancer 2023, doi: 10.1002/ijc.34457
