叶酸受体阳性循环肿瘤细胞在头颈部鳞状细胞癌诊断中的应用价值

Application value of folate receptor-positive circulating tumor cells in the diagnosis of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

前瞻性纳入2023年3至8月于中山大学附属第一医院就诊的患者及招募的健康受试者共82例,其中头颈部鳞状细胞癌(HNSCC)患者43例,非肿瘤患者/健康受试者39例。男63例,女19例,年龄[M(Q_(1),Q_(3))]62(46,67)岁。HNSCC患者与非肿瘤患者/健康受试者的血液叶酸受体阳性循环肿瘤细胞(FR+CTCs)水平分别为12.4(8.5,17.8)叶酸单位(FU)/3 ml和5.0(3.8,6.6)FU/3 ml,差异有统计学意义(P<0.001)。根据FR+CTCs水平绘制的受试者工作特征(ROC)曲线下面积为0.937(95%CI:0.888~0.986,P<0.001),根据最大约登指数确定的cut-off值为7.4 FU/3 ml。在此cut-off值下,FR+CTCs诊断HNSCC的灵敏度为90.70%,特异度为89.74%。FR+CTCs作为一种肿瘤液体活检标志物,在HNSCC筛查诊断中展现出较好的应用潜力。

A total of 82 patients and healthy subjects in the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University from March to August 2023 were recruited.The cohort consisted of 43 patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma(HNSCC)and 39 non-cancer patients or healthy subjects.There were 63 males and 19 females,with a median age of 62(46,67)years.The levels of folate receptor-positive circulating tumor cells(FR+CTCs)in the blood of HNSCC patients and non-cancer/healthy subjects were 12.4(8.5,17.8)floate unit(FU)/3 ml and 5.0(3.8,6.6)FU/3 ml,respectively,with a statistically significant difference(P<0.001).The area under the receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve for FR+CTCs levels was 0.937(95%CI:0.888-0.986,P<0.001),with a cut-off value of 7.4 FU/3 ml determined by the maximum Youden index.At this cut-off value,the sensitivity and specificity of FR+CTCs for diagnosing HNSCC were 90.70%and 89.74%,respectively.The current study suggests that FR+CTCs could be used as a liquid biopsy marker for the screening and diagnosis of HNSCC.