Cancers 2014, 6(4), 2369-2386; doi:10.3390/cancers6042369
Dynamic Changes in Numbers and Properties of Circulating Tumor Cells and Their Potential Applications
1
Institute of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Life Science, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei 11221, Taiwan
2
Department of Education and Research, Taipei City Hospital, Taipei 10629, Taiwan
3
Molecular and Genetic Imaging Core/Taiwan Mouse Clinic, Taipei 11529, Taiwan
4
Biomedical Imaging Research Center, Institute of Clinical Medicine, School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei 11221, Taiwan
5
National PET/Cyclotron Center, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, 11217, Taiwan
6
Division of Colon & Rectal Surgery, Department of Surgery, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei 11217, Taiwan
7
VGH Yang-Ming Genome Research Center, Taipei 11221, Taiwan
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 29 September 2014 / Revised: 25 November 2014 / Accepted: 8 December 2014 / Published: 16 December 2014
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cancer Cell Invasion)
Abstract
Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) can be detected in the blood of different types of early or advanced cancer using immunology-based assays or nucleic acid methods. The detection and quantification of CTCs has significant clinical utility in the prognosis of metastatic breast, prostate, and colorectal cancers. CTCs are a heterogeneous population of cells and often different from those of their respective primary tumor. Understanding the biology of CTCs may provide useful predictive information for the selection of the most appropriate treatment. Therefore, CTC detection and characterization could become a valuable tool to refine prognosis and serve as a “real-time biopsy” and has the potential to guide precision cancer therapies, monitor cancer treatment, and investigate the process of metastasis. View Full-Text
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. (CC BY 4.0).
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MDPI and ACS Style
Tseng, J.-Y.; Yang, C.-Y.; Liang, S.-C.; Liu, R.-S.; Jiang, J.-K.; Lin, C.-H. Dynamic Changes in Numbers and Properties of Circulating Tumor Cells and Their Potential Applications. Cancers 2014, 6, 2369-2386.