The role of folate receptor-positive circulating tumor cell analysis in the diagnosis of colorectal cancer: a retrospective cohort study

To explore the application value of folate receptor-positive circulating tumor cell analysis (FR+-CTC analysis) in the diagnosis of colorectal cancer (CRC).Clinical data of CRC patients and healthy subjects admitted to our hospital from January 2019 to October 2019 were retrospectively collected. CTC result and serological and pathological outcomes of the study patients were collected and analyzed. Receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC curve) was drawn.The CTC levels of cancer patients (9.34 ± 3.53 FU/3 ml) were significantly higher than those of healthy subjects (7.00 ± 2.33 FU/3 ml). CTC levels could be related to cancer stage and metastasis in patients. ROC curves were drawn and the area under the ROC curve (AUC) was 0.702. The cutoff value was determined to be 8.87 FU/3 ml. At this cutoff value, the sensitivity and specificity of FR+-CTC analysis in the diagnosis of colorectal cancer were 61.8% and 82.6%, respectively. The diagnostic efficiency of FR+-CTCs in advanced CRC was significantly higher than that in the early stage. And the cutoff value of early and advanced stage CRC was determined to be 9.66 FU/3 ml.FR+-CTC analysis has high potential in recurrence diagnosis and decision of adjuvant chemotherapy for CRC.