| Summary: | <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>To investigate the prognostic significance of disseminated tumor cells (DTCs) in bone marrow (BM) from non-metastatic breast cancer patients before and after surgery.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Patients with non-metastatic breast cancer were consecutively recruited to this project during the years 1998–2000. Real-time RT-PCR quantification of a DTC multimarker panel consisting of cytokeratin 19, mammaglobin A and TWIST1 mRNA was performed in BM samples obtained from 154 patients three weeks (BM2) and/or six months after surgery (BM3). The results were compared to previously published data from pre-operative BM analyses for the same patients.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>DTCs were identified in post-operative BM samples (BM2 and/or BM3) from 23 (15%) of the 154 patients investigated. During a median follow-up of 98 months, 10 (44%) of these patients experienced systemic relapse as compared to 16 (12%) of 131 DTC-negative patients. Kaplan-Meier estimates of systemic recurrence-free- and breast-cancer specific survival demonstrated significantly shorter survival for patients with persistent DTCs in BM after surgery (p≤0.001). By multivariate Cox regression analyses, persistent DTCs after surgery was an independent predictor of both systemic recurrence-free- (HR = 5.4, <it>p</it> < 0.001) and breast-cancer specific survival (HR = 5.3, <it>p</it> < 0.001). Furthermore, the prognostic value of DTCs in BM was similar for pre- and post surgery samples. However, patients with DTCs both before and after surgery (BM1 and BM2/3) had a particularly poor prognosis (systemic recurrence-free survival: HR = 7.2, <it>p</it> < 0.0001 and breast-cancer specific survival: HR = 8.0, <it>p</it> < 0.0001).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Detection of persistent DTCs in BM samples obtained after surgery identified non-metastatic breast cancer patients at high risk for systemic relapse, and with reduced breast-cancer specific survival. Furthermore, patients with positive DTC status both before and after surgery had a particularly poor prognosis.</p>
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