Department of Cytogenetics, Medical Genetics and Reproductive Biology, University Hospital Limoges, Avenue Martin Luther King, CEDEX 87042 Limoges, France.
General Surgery Department, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, Mindelsohn Way, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2GW, UK.
Int J Mol Sci. 2021 Apr 8;22(8):3437. doi: 10.3390/ijms22083437.
Despite therapeutic advances, colorectal cancer (CRC) is still one of the deadliest cancers, partly due to local recurrence and metastatic disease. Tumour cells that spread by gaining access to peripheral blood are called circulating tumour cells (CTCs). These may be present before there are any clinical signs, but can be detected within blood samples. CTCs from patients with CRC may be isolated in a laboratory for characterization and multiple analyses. In this review, we focus on the prognostic potential of CTCs detection, by evaluating the reported progress and applications of such analyses. Our search found 77 relevant studies that reported CTC detection in CRC. Both cell count and features were reported as promising prognosis biomarkers. Since CTCs are rare and can lose their differentiation, new tools are being developed to improve detection. CTCs may have potential as prognostic biomarkers for CRC in terms of survival prediction, anticipating chemotherapy resistance, and surgical planning. CTCs are not yet used in clinical practice, and further investigations are required in order to better frame their practical value.
尽管治疗取得了进展，但结直肠癌（CRC）仍然是最致命的癌症之一，部分原因是局部复发和转移性疾病。通过进入外周血而扩散的肿瘤细胞称为循环肿瘤细胞（CTC）。这些细胞在出现任何临床症状之前就可能存在，但可以在血液样本中检测到。可以在实验室中分离 CRC 患者的 CTC 进行特征描述和多项分析。在这篇综述中，我们通过评估此类分析的报告进展和应用，重点关注 CTC 检测的预后潜力。我们的搜索发现了 77 篇报道 CRC 中 CTC 检测的相关研究。细胞计数和特征均被报道为有前途的预后生物标志物。由于 CTC 数量稀少且可能失去分化，因此正在开发新的工具来提高检测的灵敏度。CTC 可能在生存预测、预测化疗耐药性和手术规划方面具有作为 CRC 预后生物标志物的潜力。CTC 尚未在临床实践中使用，需要进一步研究以更好地确定其实际价值。
