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The Evolving Role of Circulating Tumor Cells in the Personalized Management of Breast Cancer: From Enumeration to Molecular Characterization

The Evolving Role of Circulating Tumor Cells in the Personalized Management of Breast Cancer:... Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) represent tumor cells in the blood stream dislodged from the primary tumor. The presence of CTCs in the bloodstream provides a unique opportunity to sample cancer tissue by means of a relatively less-invasive “liquid biopsy.” Over the past decade, there has been a tremendous increase in the amount of research examining the potential clinical utility of CTCs in the management of cancer. A number of techniques to refine the sensitivity and range of CTC assays are also in development. In this article, we review the recent developments in the current and potential clinical applications of CTCs in breast cancer. CTC enumeration already has an established role as a prognostic biomarker in metastatic breast cancer, whereas molecular characterization of CTCs can serve as a potential predictive biomarker for therapy selection, pharmacodynamic evaluation, and identification of novel actionable targets for novel therapies. The role of CTCs in breast cancer screening and detection of recurrence is currently limited. Further development in techniques will be pivotal in enhancing the broad applicability of CTCs and advancing the field of personalized breast cancer therapy. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Current Breast Cancer Reports Springer Journals

The Evolving Role of Circulating Tumor Cells in the Personalized Management of Breast Cancer: From Enumeration to Molecular Characterization

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References (52)

Publisher
Springer Journals
Copyright
Copyright © 2014 by Springer Science+Business Media New York
Subject
Medicine & Public Health; Oncology; Internal Medicine; Surgical Oncology
ISSN
1943-4588
eISSN
1943-4596
DOI
10.1007/s12609-014-0149-9
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) represent tumor cells in the blood stream dislodged from the primary tumor. The presence of CTCs in the bloodstream provides a unique opportunity to sample cancer tissue by means of a relatively less-invasive “liquid biopsy.” Over the past decade, there has been a tremendous increase in the amount of research examining the potential clinical utility of CTCs in the management of cancer. A number of techniques to refine the sensitivity and range of CTC assays are also in development. In this article, we review the recent developments in the current and potential clinical applications of CTCs in breast cancer. CTC enumeration already has an established role as a prognostic biomarker in metastatic breast cancer, whereas molecular characterization of CTCs can serve as a potential predictive biomarker for therapy selection, pharmacodynamic evaluation, and identification of novel actionable targets for novel therapies. The role of CTCs in breast cancer screening and detection of recurrence is currently limited. Further development in techniques will be pivotal in enhancing the broad applicability of CTCs and advancing the field of personalized breast cancer therapy.

Journal

Current Breast Cancer ReportsSpringer Journals

Published: May 10, 2014

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