Molecular and Dynamic Evaluation of Proteins Related to Resistance to Neoadjuvant Treatment with Chemoradiotherapy in Circulating Tumor Cells of Patients with Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer

The heterogeneity of response to neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (NCRT) is still a challenge in locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC). The evaluation of thymidylate synthase (TYMS) and RAD23 homolog B (RAD23B) expression in circulating tumor cells (CTCs) provides complementary clinical information. CTCs were prospectively evaluated in 166 blood samples (63 patients) with LARC undergoing NCRT. The primary objective was to verify if the absence of RAD23B/TYMS in CTCs would correlate with pathological complete response (pCR). Secondary objectives were to correlate CTC kinetics before (C1)/after NCRT (C2), in addition to the expression of transforming growth factor-β receptor I (TGF-βRI) with survival rates. CTCs were isolated by ISET and evaluated by immunocytochemistry (protein expression). At C1, RAD23B was detected in 54.1% of patients with no pCR and its absence in 91.7% of patients with pCR (p = 0.014); TYMS- was observed in 90% of patients with pCR and TYMS+ in 51.7% without pCR (p = 0.057). Patients with CTC2 > CTC1 had worse disease-free survival (DFS) (p = 0.00025) and overall survival (OS) (p = 0.0036) compared with those with CTC2 ≤ CTC1. TGF-βRI expression in any time correlated with worse DFS (p = 0.059). To conclude, RAD23B/TYMS and CTC kinetics may facilitate the personalized treatment of LARC.