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The Role of CTCs as Tumor Biomarkers

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Advances in Cancer Biomarkers

Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ((AEMB,volume 867))

Abstract

Detection of Circulating Tumor Cells (CTCs) in peripheral blood can serve as a “liquid biopsy” approach and as a source of valuable tumor markers. CTCs are rare, and thus their detection, enumeration and molecular characterization are very challenging. CTCs have the unique characteristic to be non-invasively isolated from blood and used to follow patients over time, since these cells can provide significant information for better understanding tumour biology and tumour cell dissemination. CTCs molecular characterization offers the unique potential to understand better the biology of metastasis and resistance to established therapies and their analysis presents nowadays a promising field for both advanced and early stage patients. In this chapter we focus on the latest findings concerning the clinical relevance of CTC detection and enumeration, and discuss their potential as tumor biomarkers in various types of solid cancers. We also highlight the importance of performing comparison studies between these different methodologies and external quality control systems for establishing CTCs as tumor biomarkers in the routine clinical setting.

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Abbreviations

AA:

Abiraterone acetate

AR:

Androgen receptor

BC:

Breast cancer

CRPC:

Castration-resistant prostate cancer

CA-15-3:

Cancer antigen 15–3

CEA:

Carcinoembryonic antigen

cfDNA:

Cell free DNA

CTCs :

Circulating Tumor Cells

CK-19 :

Cytokeratin-19

CK-7:

Cytokeratin-7

DFS:

Disease Free Survival

DTC:

Disseminated tumor cells

EGFR:

Epidermal growth factor receptor

EMT:

Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition

EQA:

External quality assurance

CNA:

Genome-wide copy-number aberration

HCC:

Hepatocellular carcinoma

hTERT:

Human telomerase reverse transcriptase

ISET:

Isolation by size of epithelial tumour cells

LAPC:

Locally advanced pancreatic carcinoma

LAHNC:

Locally advanced head and neck cancer

LOH:

Loss of heterozygosity

MBC:

Metastatic breast cancer

mCRC:

Metastatic colorectal cancer

NIH:

National Institutes of Health

NSCLC:

Non small cell lung cancer

OS:

Overall Survival

PE:

Pleural Effusion

PFS:

Progression Free Survival

PSA :

Prostate Specific Antigen

RT-PCR:

Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction

SLN:

Sentinel lymph node

SNP:

Single-nucleotide polymorphism

SNUC:

Sinonasal undifferentiated carcinoma

SCCHN:

Squamous cell carcinoma of head and neck

TTF-1:

Thyroid transcription factor 1

TGF-P:

Transforming growth factor

TMPRSS2:

Transmembrane protease serine 2

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  1. Analysis of Circulating Tumor Cells Lab, Lab of Analytical Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, University of Athens, 15771, Athens, Greece

    Evi S. Lianidou, Athina Markou & Areti Strati

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Lianidou, E.S., Markou, A., Strati, A. (2015). The Role of CTCs as Tumor Biomarkers. In: Scatena, R. (eds) Advances in Cancer Biomarkers. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 867. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-7215-0_21

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