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CTCs in Metastatic Breast Cancer

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Minimal Residual Disease and Circulating Tumor Cells in Breast Cancer

Part of the book series: Recent Results in Cancer Research ((RECENTCANCER,volume 195))

Abstract

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs), enumerated by the Food and Drugs Administration-cleared CellSearch® system, are an independent prognostic factor of progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in metastatic breast cancer (MBC) patients. Several published papers demonstrated the poor prognosis for MBC patients who presented basal CTC count ≥5 in 7.5 mL of blood. Therefore, the enumeration of CTCs during treatment for MBC provides a tool with the ability to predict progression of disease earlier than standard timing of anatomical assessment using conventional radiological tests. Randomized clinical trials are ongoing to demonstrate whether CTCs detected by CellSearch® may help to guide treatments in MBC patients and improve prognosis. Moreover, the ability to perform molecular characterization of CTCs might identify a new druggable target in MBC patients. For example, the RT-PCR-based approach AdnaTest BreastCancerSelect™ showed a high discordance rate in receptor expression between the primary tumors and CTCs. Theoretically, the phenotypic analysis of CTCs can represent a “liquid” biopsy of breast tumor that is able to identify a new potential target against the metastatic disease.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Hematopathology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA

    Antonio Giordano

  2. Department of Endocrinology Molecular Clinical Oncology, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy

    Antonio Giordano

  3. Department of Medical Oncology, G. Morris Dorrance Jr. Endowed Chair in Medical Oncology, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Massimo Cristofanilli

Authors
  1. Antonio Giordano
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  2. Massimo Cristofanilli
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Massimo Cristofanilli .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Breast Cancer Translational Res. Lab., Institut Jules Bordet, Boulevard de Waterloo 125, Brussels, 1000, Belgium

    Michail Ignatiadis

  2. , Breast Cancer Translational Res. Lab., Institut Jules Bordet, Boulevard de Waterloo 125, Brussels, 1000, Belgium

    Christos Sotiriou

  3. Zentrum für Experimentelle Medizin, Inst. Tumorbiologie, Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistr. 52, Hamburg, 20246, Germany

    Klaus Pantel

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Giordano, A., Cristofanilli, M. (2012). CTCs in Metastatic Breast Cancer. In: Ignatiadis, M., Sotiriou, C., Pantel, K. (eds) Minimal Residual Disease and Circulating Tumor Cells in Breast Cancer. Recent Results in Cancer Research, vol 195. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-28160-0_18

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-28160-0_18

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-28159-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-28160-0

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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