摘要前瞻性纳入2023年3至8月于中山大学附属第一医院就诊的患者及招募的健康受试者共82例，其中头颈部鳞状细胞癌（HNSCC）患者43例，非肿瘤患者/健康受试者39例。男63例，女19例，年龄［ M（ Q1， Q3）］62（46，67）岁。HNSCC患者与非肿瘤患者/健康受试者的血液叶酸受体阳性循环肿瘤细胞（FR +CTCs）水平分别为12.4（8.5，17.8）叶酸单位（FU）/3 ml和5.0（3.8，6.6）FU/3 ml，差异有统计学意义（ P<0.001）。根据FR +CTCs水平绘制的受试者工作特征（ROC）曲线下面积为0.937（95% CI：0.888~0.986， P<0.001），根据最大约登指数确定的cut-off值为7.4 FU/3 ml。在此cut-off值下，FR +CTCs诊断HNSCC的灵敏度为90.70%，特异度为89.74%。FR +CTCs作为一种肿瘤液体活检标志物，在HNSCC筛查诊断中展现出较好的应用潜力。

abstractsA total of 82 patients and healthy subjects in the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University from March to August 2023 were recruited. The cohort consisted of 43 patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) and 39 non-cancer patients or healthy subjects. There were 63 males and 19 females, with a median age of 62 (46, 67) years. The levels of folate receptor-positive circulating tumor cells (FR +CTCs) in the blood of HNSCC patients and non-cancer/healthy subjects were 12.4 (8.5, 17.8) floate unit (FU)/3 ml and 5.0 (3.8, 6.6) FU/3 ml, respectively, with a statistically significant difference ( P<0.001). The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve for FR +CTCs levels was 0.937 (95% CI: 0.888-0.986, P<0.001), with a cut-off value of 7.4 FU/3 ml determined by the maximum Youden index. At this cut-off value, the sensitivity and specificity of FR +CTCs for diagnosing HNSCC were 90.70% and 89.74%, respectively. The current study suggests that FR +CTCs could be used as a liquid biopsy marker for the screening and diagnosis of HNSCC.