TY - JOUR
T1 - Circulating tumor cells
T2 - Technologies and their clinical potential in cancer metastasis
AU - Xiao, Jerry
AU - Pohlmann, Paula R.
AU - Isaacs, Claudine
AU - Weinberg, Benjamin A.
AU - He, Aiwu R.
AU - Schlegel, Richard
AU - Agarwal, Seema
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
PY - 2021/9
Y1 - 2021/9
N2 - Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are single cells or clusters of cells within the circulatory system of a cancer patient. While most CTCs will perish, a small proportion will proceed to colonize the metastatic niche. The clinical importance of CTCs was reaffirmed by the 2008 FDA approval of CellSearch®, a platform that could extract EpCAM-positive, CD45-negative cells from whole blood samples. Many further studies have demonstrated the presence of CTCs to stratify patients based on overall and progression-free survival, among other clinical indices. Given their unique role in metastasis, CTCs could also offer a glimpse into the genetic drivers of metastasis. Investigation of CTCs has already led to groundbreaking discoveries such as receptor switching between primary tumors and metastatic nodules in breast cancer, which could greatly affect disease management, as well as CTC-immune cell interactions that enhance colonization. In this review, we will highlight the growing variety of isolation techniques for investigating CTCs. Next, we will provide clinically relevant context for CTCs, discussing key clinical trials involving CTCs. Finally, we will provide insight into the future of CTC studies and some questions that CTCs are primed to answer.
AB - Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are single cells or clusters of cells within the circulatory system of a cancer patient. While most CTCs will perish, a small proportion will proceed to colonize the metastatic niche. The clinical importance of CTCs was reaffirmed by the 2008 FDA approval of CellSearch®, a platform that could extract EpCAM-positive, CD45-negative cells from whole blood samples. Many further studies have demonstrated the presence of CTCs to stratify patients based on overall and progression-free survival, among other clinical indices. Given their unique role in metastasis, CTCs could also offer a glimpse into the genetic drivers of metastasis. Investigation of CTCs has already led to groundbreaking discoveries such as receptor switching between primary tumors and metastatic nodules in breast cancer, which could greatly affect disease management, as well as CTC-immune cell interactions that enhance colonization. In this review, we will highlight the growing variety of isolation techniques for investigating CTCs. Next, we will provide clinically relevant context for CTCs, discussing key clinical trials involving CTCs. Finally, we will provide insight into the future of CTC studies and some questions that CTCs are primed to answer.
KW - CTC-derived xenografts
KW - Cancer
KW - Circulating tumor cells
KW - Clinical trials
KW - Drug screens
KW - Metastasis
KW - Tissue culture
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U2 - 10.3390/biomedicines9091111
DO - 10.3390/biomedicines9091111
M3 - Review article
C2 - 34572297
AN - SCOPUS:85114396238
SN - 2227-9059
VL - 9
JO - Biomedicines
JF - Biomedicines
IS - 9
M1 - 1111
ER -