CTCs by cancer

circulating tumor cells in small-cell lung cancer, SCLC
Small-cell lung cancer (SCLC), an aggressive neuroendocrine tumor with early dissemination and dismal prognosis, accounts for 15-20% of lung cancer cases and ∼200,000 deaths each year. Most cases are inoperable, and biopsies to investigate SCLC biology are rarely obtainable.
Circulating tumor cells (CTCs), which are prevalent in SCLC, present a readily accessible ’liquid biopsy’.
It has been shown that CTCs from patients with either (...)

CTCs in gastric cancer
References
Clinical significance of circulating tumor cells in peripheral blood from patients with gastric cancer. Uenosono Y, Arigami T, Kozono T, Yanagita S, Hagihara T, Haraguchi N, Matsushita D, Hirata M, Arima H, Funasako Y, Kijima Y, Nakajo A, Okumura H, Ishigami S, Hokita S, Ueno S, Natsugoe S. Cancer. 2013 Aug 20. doi:10.1002/cncr.28309. PMID: (...)

CTCs in melanoma
Open references
Circulating tumor cells and melanoma progression. Xu X, Zhong JF. J Invest Dermatol. 2010 Oct;130(10):2349-51. doi:10.1038/jid.2010.215 . PMID: #20842140# [Free]
References
Circulating melanoma cells as a predictive biomarker. Karakousis G, Yang R, Xu X. J Invest Dermatol. 2013 Jun;133(6):1460-2. doi: 10.1038/jid.2013.34. PMID: #23673501#
Biomarker utility of circulating tumor cells in metastatic cutaneous melanoma. Khoja L, Lorigan P, Zhou C, (...)

Physiopathology
The knowledge into the pathophysiology of the natural history of lung cancer has improved a lot through different studies concerning CTCs.
In particular, recent work performed by the team of Massagué in New York has established that CTCs can give rise not only to metastases, but can also colonize the primary tumor site and participate in primary tumor progression, through a phenomenon called tumor self-seeding.
Other studies showed that CTCs can circulate in the (...)

CTCs in prostate carcinoma
Open references
Circulating tumor cells as biomarkers in prostate cancer. Danila DC, Fleisher M, Scher HI. Clin Cancer Res. 2011 Jun 15;17(12):3903-12. doi:10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-10-2650 . PMID: #21680546# [Free]
TMPRSS2-ERG status in circulating tumor cells as a predictive biomarker of sensitivity in castration-resistant prostate cancer patients treated with abiraterone acetate. Danila DC, Anand A, Sung CC, Heller G, Leversha MA, Cao L, Lilja H, Molina A, (...)

References
Circulating tumor cells in pancreatic cancer patients: methods of detection and clinical implications. Tjensvoll K, Nordgård O, Smaaland R. Int J Cancer. 2014 Jan 1;134(1):1-8. doi: 10.1002/ijc.28134. PMID: #23447365#

References
Prognostic role and HER2 expression of circulating tumor cells in peripheral blood of patients prior to radical cystectomy: a prospective study. Rink M, Chun FK, Dahlem R, Soave A, Minner S, Hansen J, Stoupiec M, Coith C, Kluth LA, Ahyai SA, Friedrich MG, Shariat SF, Fisch M, Pantel K, Riethdorf S. Eur Urol. 2012 Apr;61(4):810-7. PMID: #22277196#

CTCs in colorectal cancer
Detection of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in the peripheral blood is a rapidly developing research field with clear clinical implications for the staging and monitoring of cancer patients.
Current CTC assays, including the US Food and Drug Administration-cleared CellSearch® system, typically use markers [e.g., cytokeratins (CKs), the transmembrane protein EpCAM (epithelial cell adhesion molecule)] that are expressed on normal and malignant epithelial cells but (...)

CTCs in breast cancer
Metastasis, not the primary tumor, is responsible for the majority of breast cancer-related deaths. Emerging evidence indicates that breast cancer stem cells (CSCs) and the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) cooperate to produce circulating tumor cells (CTCs) that are highly competent for metastasis.
CTCs with both CSC and EMT characteristics have recently been identified in the bloodstream of patients with metastatic disease.
Breast CSCs have elevated (...)