TY - JOUR
T1 - Molecular mechanisms of metastasis in breast cancer-clinical applications
AU - Mego, Michal
AU - Mani, Sendurai A.
AU - Cristofanilli, Massimo
N1 - Funding Information:
We acknowledge J. M. Reuben for discussions and critical input and K. Evans for critical reading of this Review. We apologize to the many researchers whose work we were unable to cite owing to space restrictions. M. Cristofanilli is the recipient of a grant from the State of Texas Rare and Aggressive Breast Cancer Research Program. M. Mego was supported by International Union Against Cancer, American Cancer Society International Fellowship for Beginning Investigators (ACSBI Award ACS/08/006). M. Cristofanilli and S. A. Mani are the recipients of a R01 grant from National Cancer Institute entitled Human breast cancer stem cell surrogates.
PY - 2010/12
Y1 - 2010/12
N2 - The metastatic cascade is a series of biological processes that enable the movement of tumor cells from the primary site to a distant location and the establishment of a new cancer growth. Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) have a crucial role in tumor dissemination. The role of CTCs in treatment failure and disease progression can be explained by their relation to biological processes, including the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and 'self seeding', defined as reinfiltration of the primary tumor or established metastasis by more aggressive CTCs. CTCs are a unique and heterogeneous cell population with established prognostic and predictive value in certain clinical situations. The possibility of collecting sequential blood samples for real-time monitoring of systemic-therapy efficacy presents new possibilities to evaluate targeted therapies based on the genomic profiling of CTCs and to improve the clinical management of patients by personalized therapy. Interruption of the metastatic cascade via the targeting of CTCs might be a promising therapeutic strategy.
AB - The metastatic cascade is a series of biological processes that enable the movement of tumor cells from the primary site to a distant location and the establishment of a new cancer growth. Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) have a crucial role in tumor dissemination. The role of CTCs in treatment failure and disease progression can be explained by their relation to biological processes, including the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and 'self seeding', defined as reinfiltration of the primary tumor or established metastasis by more aggressive CTCs. CTCs are a unique and heterogeneous cell population with established prognostic and predictive value in certain clinical situations. The possibility of collecting sequential blood samples for real-time monitoring of systemic-therapy efficacy presents new possibilities to evaluate targeted therapies based on the genomic profiling of CTCs and to improve the clinical management of patients by personalized therapy. Interruption of the metastatic cascade via the targeting of CTCs might be a promising therapeutic strategy.
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U2 - 10.1038/nrclinonc.2010.171
DO - 10.1038/nrclinonc.2010.171
M3 - Review article
C2 - 20956980
AN - SCOPUS:78649636965
SN - 1759-4774
VL - 7
SP - 693
EP - 701
JO - Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology
JF - Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology
IS - 12
ER -