Circulating tumor cells and their clinical significance

Abstract

Metastases to other organs and the formation of secondary tumors are responsible for 90% of cancer-related deaths. However, even in the early stages of cancer, about 30-40% of patients with localized disease may have latent metastasis, which are likely derived from circulating tumor cells (CTCs) involved in disease progression. Therefore, detection and analysis of CTCs can play an important role in the diagnosis and decision-making of adjuvant treatment that aims to prevent metastasis. At present, patients' selection of treatment is based on the statistical risk of recurrence of metastatic disease, without considering whether the tumor cells have spread from the primary tumor. This may lead to unnecessary treatment of non-metastatic disease patients. Therefore, early detection of CTCs in the blood is critically important, and should allow for a more accurate assessment of disease severity. Here, we provide an overview of CTC phenotypes, including plasticity of CTCs, and their clinical significance. NOWOTWORY J Oncol 2017; 67, 4: 243-250

HMGA1 gene expression level in cancer tissue and blood samples of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients: preliminary report

“…We found that the HMGA1 expression in the blood tends to decrease after surgical removal of the NSCLC tumor that could suggest tumor cells are the substantial source of HMGA1 expression measured in the blood. It is believed that circulating tumor cells are shredded into the circulation by tumors in the early stages of cancer and are responsible for the development of latent metastases (Grzybowska and Fabisiewicz 2017 ). However, according to the Human Protein Atlas (Uhlen et al 2017 ) the HMGA1 expression was detected in all blood cell types, so the type of cells being the source of measured HMGA1 transcript level should be specified in the future.…”