Circulating biomarkers exploratory study in loco-regional gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma patients.

17 Background: Patients diagnosed with gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma (GEA) have a poor prognosis despite curative attempts with multimodal treatment including surgery, chemotherapy (CT) and radiotherapy (RT). VEGF, EpCAM, MUC1, CK19 and CK20 and CD133 have shown to provide additional prognostic information in advanced GEA patients. Methods: Circulating mRNA of total VEGF (and 2 VEGF isoforms 121 and 165), EpCAM, MUC1 and CD133 were determined in 36 loco-regional GEA patients (pts). Blood samples were collected before surgery or, when indicated, before the preoperative chemotherapy treatment, within a 7 days window. Additionally, 14 healthy volunteers and 7 advanced GEA pts were included to comparative analyses. The Wilcoxon test was used to assess differences in expression among the groups. Results: Pre-surgery CT was administered in 30 pts (79%). ECF or its modifications were administered in 22 pts, and FOLFOX in 7 pts. Type of resection achieved was R0 (19 pts, 59%), R1(7 pts, 22%) and R2 (6 pts, 10%)...