Detection of circulating tumor cells using oHSV1‐hTERT‐GFP in lung cancer

BACKGROUND: This study was conducted to evaluate the clinical utility of the oHSV1‐hTERT‐GFP circulating tumor cell (CTC) detection method in the peripheral blood of patients with lung cancer by comparing its sensitivity to the CellSearch CTC detection method. METHODS: The oHSV1‐hTERT‐GFP and CellSearch CTC detection methods were compared using peripheral blood samples of patients pathologically diagnosed with lung cancer. RESULTS: A total of 240 patients with lung cancer were recruited, including 89 patients who were newly diagnosed and 151 patients who had previously received treatment. Sixty‐six newly diagnosed patients were evaluated using both methods. The CTC detection rates were 71.2% and 33.3% using the oHSV1‐hTERT‐GFP and CellSearch methods, respectively; this difference was statistically significant (P = 0.000). Among the entire cohort (n = 240), the CTC detection rate using the oHSV1‐hTERT‐GFP method was 76.3%, with a CTC count of 0–81. The CTC detection rates were 76.7%, 68.9%, and 76.3% in patients with squamous cell carcinoma, adenocarcinoma, and small cell lung cancer, respectively. There was no statistically significant difference in the CTC detection rates between these different pathological subtypes (P = 0.738). The CTC detection rates of 79.8% and 74.4% in patients with stage I–III and IV lung cancer, respectively, were not significantly different (P = 0.427). CONCLUSION: The oHSV1‐hTERT‐GFP method is highly effective for detecting CTCs in patients with lung cancer, independent of pathological type and disease stage, and is ideal for large‐scale clinical applications.