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Circulating tumor cells in solid malignancies: From advanced isolation technologies to biological understanding and clinical relevance in early diagnosis and prognosis.
- Source :
-
Biochimica et biophysica acta. Reviews on cancer [Biochim Biophys Acta Rev Cancer] 2025 Feb; Vol. 1880 (1), pp. 189236. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Dec 09. - Publication Year :
- 2025
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Abstract
- Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are shed from primary tumors and travel through the body via circulation, eventually settling to form micrometastases under favorable conditions. Numerous studies have identified CTCs as a negative prognostic indicator for survival across various cancer types. CTCs mirror the current heterogeneity and genetic and biological state of tumors, making their study invaluable for understanding tumor progression, cell senescence, and cancer dormancy. However, their isolation and characterization still poses a major challenge that limits their clinical translation. A wide array of methods, each with different levels of specificity, utility, cost, and sensitivity, have been developed to isolate and characterize CTCs. Moreover, innovative techniques are emerging to address the limitations of existing methods. In this review, we provide insights into CTC biology addressing spectra of markers employed for molecular analysis and functional characterization. It also emphasizes current label-dependent and label-independent isolation procedures, addressing their strengths and limitations. SIGNIFICANCE: A comprehensive overview of CTC biology, their molecular and functional characterization, along with their current clinical utility will help in understanding the present-day extent to which the clinical potential of CTCs is getting tapped in personalized medicine.<br />Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.<br /> (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1879-2561
- Volume :
- 1880
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Biochimica et biophysica acta. Reviews on cancer
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 39662757
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbcan.2024.189236