Circulating Tumor-Macrophage Fusion Cells As Stage Independent, Unfavourable, Prognostic Markers in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma

Background: In search for new diagnostic tools, liquid biopsy approaches (such as circulating tumor cells and circulating tumor DNA) have become of interest in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Tumor-macrophage fusion cells (TMFs) are often polymorphonuclear, large subtypes of circulating cancer-associated cells with a both myeloid and epithelial phenotype. TMFs have been described being unfavourable prognostic markers in some cancer entities, going along with aggressive clinical behaviour. But since data on the relevance of TMFs in PDAC and their potential as predictive biomarkers is still lacking, our study aimed to assess the impact of circulating TMFs in PDAC on tumor recurrence and survival.