Bates Mark, Mohamed Bashir M, Ward Mark P, Kelly Tanya E, O'Connor Roisin, Malone Victoria, Brooks Robert, Brooks Doug, Selemidis Stavros, Martin Cara, O'Toole Sharon, O'Leary John J
Department of Histopathology, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland; Emer Casey Molecular Pathology Research Laboratory, Coombe Women & Infants University Hospital, Dublin 8, Ireland; Trinity St James's Cancer Institute, Dublin 8, Ireland.
Department of Histopathology, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland; Emer Casey Molecular Pathology Research Laboratory, Coombe Women & Infants University Hospital, Dublin 8, Ireland; Trinity St James's Cancer Institute, Dublin 8, Ireland.
Biochim Biophys Acta Rev Cancer. 2023 Mar;1878(2):188863. doi: 10.1016/j.bbcan.2023.188863. Epub 2023 Feb 15.
This review is an overview of the current knowledge regarding circulating tumour cells (CTCs), which are potentially the most lethal type of cancer cell, and may be a key component of the metastatic cascade. The clinical utility of CTCs (the "Good"), includes their diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic potential. Conversely, their complex biology (the "Bad"), including the existence of CD45+/EpCAM+ CTCs, adds insult to injury regarding their isolation and identification, which in turn hampers their clinical translation. CTCs are capable of forming microemboli composed of both non-discrete phenotypic populations such as mesenchymal CTCs and homotypic and heterotypic clusters which are poised to interact with other cells in the circulation, including immune cells and platelets, which may increase their malignant potential. These microemboli (the "Ugly") represent a prognostically important CTC subset, however, phenotypic EMT/MET gradients bring additional complexities to an already challenging situation.
本综述概述了目前关于循环肿瘤细胞（CTC）的知识，循环肿瘤细胞可能是最具致死性的癌细胞类型，并且可能是转移级联反应的关键组成部分。循环肿瘤细胞的临床应用价值（“好”的方面）包括其诊断、预后和治疗潜力。相反，其复杂的生物学特性（“坏”的方面），包括CD45+/EpCAM+循环肿瘤细胞的存在，在其分离和鉴定方面雪上加霜，进而阻碍了它们的临床转化。循环肿瘤细胞能够形成由非离散表型群体（如间充质循环肿瘤细胞）以及同型和异型簇组成的微栓子，这些微栓子准备好在循环中与其他细胞相互作用，包括免疫细胞和血小板，这可能会增加它们的恶性潜能。这些微栓子（“丑”的方面）代表了一个具有预后重要性的循环肿瘤细胞亚群，然而，表型上皮-间质转化/间质-上皮转化梯度给本已具有挑战性的情况带来了更多复杂性。
