Surgical Impact on Circulating Tumor and Hybrid Cells in Head and Neck Cancer: A Pilot Study
- 1The Laboratory of Molecular Therapy of Cancer, Cancer Research Institute, Tomsk National Research Medical Center, Russian Academy of Sciences, Tomsk, Russia
- 2The Department of Head and Neck Cancer, Cancer Research Institute, Tomsk National Research Medical Center, Russian Academy of Sciences, Tomsk, Russia
Abstract
Objective: Surgery is known to significantly influence both the quantity and functional characteristics of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in the bloodstream. Our cohort study aimed to characterize the landscape of CTCs and circulating hybrid cells (CHCs) in patients with head and neck cancer in peri-operative period. Methods: 26 patients were recruited and CTC and CHC counts were evaluated using four epithelial markers (EpCAM with differential localization of expression—membrane and intracellular, cytokeratin 7/8, and pan-cytokeratin) by flow cytometry. Expression of EpCAM and pan-cytokeratin in tumor tissue slides was assessed by multiplex immunofluorescence analysis. Results: The study revealed that CD45+ CHCs dominated the circulating landscape, outnumbering classical CD45− CTCs by over forty-fold. Both compartments exhibited phenotypic heterogeneity reflecting ongoing epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition. Surgical resection significantly depleted specific CD45+ CHC subpopulations but had no effect on CD45− CTCs. Postoperative CHC counts above 2.5 cells/mL were associated with favorable outcomes, whereas depletion below this threshold predicted poor clinical outcomes and relapse. Although the patient cohort was limited, robust statistical analyses validate the significance of our observations. Conclusion: Our findings identify a novel informative marker for predicting head and neck cancer progression, which may serve as part of a non-invasive liquid biopsy.
Related
- Primary-Tumor Transcriptomic Signatures Associated with Circulating Tumor Cells Status in Breast Cancer: From CTC-Negative Remodeling to CTC-Associated Metastatic Programs
- 434 Phenotypic state of circulating tumor-reactive T cells predict response to PD-1 blockade in non-small cell lung cancer
- Evaluation of Urinary Circulating Tumor DNA to Detect Minimal Residual Disease in Patients with High-Risk Non-Muscle Invasive Bladder Cancer
- Circulating tumor cells atlas – an open-access platform capturing tumor cells heterogeneity during cancer dissemination
- Mitochondrial metabolic plasticity in cancer: hybrid bioenergetic states and translational targeting in surgical oncology
BibTeX
@article{grigoryeva2026surgical,
title = {{Surgical Impact on Circulating Tumor and Hybrid Cells in Head and Neck Cancer: A Pilot Study}},
author = {Evgeniya S. Grigoryeva and Anna Y. Kalinchuk and Irina K. Fedorova and Vladislav O. Tskhai and Denis E. Kulbakin and Liubov A. Tashireva},
journal = {Oncology Research},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.32604/or.2026.076831},
url = {https://doi.org/10.32604/or.2026.076831},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Surgical Impact on Circulating Tumor and Hybrid Cells in Head and Neck Cancer: A Pilot Study
AU - Evgeniya S. Grigoryeva
AU - Anna Y. Kalinchuk
AU - Irina K. Fedorova
AU - Vladislav O. Tskhai
AU - Denis E. Kulbakin
AU - Liubov A. Tashireva
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/28
JO - Oncology Research
DO - 10.32604/or.2026.076831
UR - https://doi.org/10.32604/or.2026.076831
AB - Objective: Surgery is known to significantly influence both the quantity and functional characteristics of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in the bloodstream. Our cohort study aimed to characterize the landscape of CTCs and circulating hybrid cells (CHCs) in patients with head and neck cancer in peri-operative period. Methods: 26 patients were recruited and CTC and CHC counts were evaluated using four epithelial markers (EpCAM with differential localization of expression—membrane and intracellular, cytokeratin 7/8, and pan-cytokeratin) by flow cytometry. Expression of EpCAM and pan-cytokeratin in tumor tissue slides was assessed by multiplex immunofluorescence analysis. Results: The study revealed that CD45+ CHCs dominated the circulating landscape, outnumbering classical CD45− CTCs by over forty-fold. Both compartments exhibited phenotypic heterogeneity reflecting ongoing epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition. Surgical resection significantly depleted specific CD45+ CHC subpopulations but had no effect on CD45− CTCs. Postoperative CHC counts above 2.5 cells/mL were associated with favorable outcomes, whereas depletion below this threshold predicted poor clinical outcomes and relapse. Although the patient cohort was limited, robust statistical analyses validate the significance of our observations. Conclusion: Our findings identify a novel informative marker for predicting head and neck cancer progression, which may serve as part of a non-invasive liquid biopsy.
SN - 0965-0407
SN - 1555-3906
ER -