Am J Cancer Res. 2011;1(6):740-51. Epub 2011 Jun 1.
Localized and metastatic cancers give rise to circulating tumor cells (CTCs) which are detectable in the bloodstream. Recent studies have highlighted the prognostic significance of the presence and number of CTCs, particularly in patients with metastatic disease. Future studies are designed not only to detect CTCs, but also to characterize them. This review discusses current and developing methodologies for the isolation and characterization of CTCs as well as recent studies focusing on the clinical relevance of CTC detection and characterization.
局部和转移性癌症会产生可在血液中检测到的循环肿瘤细胞(CTC)。最近的研究强调了 CTC 的存在和数量的预后意义,特别是在转移性疾病患者中。未来的研究不仅旨在检测 CTC,还旨在对其进行特征分析。本文综述了当前和正在开发的 CTC 分离和特征分析方法,以及最近关注 CTC 检测和特征分析临床相关性的研究。