Circulating Tumor Cells (CTCs)

CTCs are intact cancer cells that have shed from a primary tumor into the bloodstream. They can exist as single cells or clusters and are capable of forming metastases in distant organs
Fridrichova et al. 2022 Int J Mol Sci. 23(20): 12141
Herath et al. 2020 Expert Rev Mol Diagn. 20(11): 1139-1147

CTCs are heterogeneous; a pressing question concerns which CTCs represent those directly involved in metastasis, the major cause of cancer-related death.
Ma & Jeffrey 2020 Science 367: 1224-1225

Increasing evidence suggests that CTC count can serve as a prognostic biomarker for epithelial tumors, including metastatic breast, colon, prostate and lung cancer.
Barbaz´an et al. 2014 Int. J. Cancer 135(11): 2633-2643
Carlsson et al. 2014 J. Thorac. Oncol. 9(8): 1111-1119
Alix-Panabières & Pantel 2016
Hall et al. 2016 C…