Circulating Tumor Cells (CTCs): A Unique Model of Cancer Metastases and Non-invasive Biomarkers of Therapeutic Response
Late-stage cancer metastasis remains incurable in the clinic and is the major cause death in patients. Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are thought to be metastatic precursors shed from the primary tumor or metastatic deposits and circulate in the blood. The molecular network regulating CTC survival,...
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doaj-f7c0d16a9db04359bc4cfae5d2a9ad882021-08-25T11:01:30ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Genetics1664-80212021-08-011210.3389/fgene.2021.734595734595Circulating Tumor Cells (CTCs): A Unique Model of Cancer Metastases and Non-invasive Biomarkers of Therapeutic ResponseJialing Liu0Jingru Lian1Yafei Chen2Xin Zhao3ChangZheng Du4Yang Xu5Hailiang Hu6Hai Rao7Xin Hong8Department of Biochemistry, School of Medicine, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, ChinaDepartment of Biochemistry, School of Medicine, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, ChinaDepartment of Biochemistry, School of Medicine, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, ChinaDepartment of Hepatobiliary Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital and School of Medicine, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, ChinaDepartment of Biochemistry, School of Medicine, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, ChinaDepartment of Biochemistry, School of Medicine, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, ChinaDepartment of Biochemistry, School of Medicine, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, ChinaDepartment of Biochemistry, School of Medicine, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, ChinaDepartment of Biochemistry, School of Medicine, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, ChinaLate-stage cancer metastasis remains incurable in the clinic and is the major cause death in patients. Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are thought to be metastatic precursors shed from the primary tumor or metastatic deposits and circulate in the blood. The molecular network regulating CTC survival, extravasation, and colonization in distant metastatic sites is poorly defined, largely due to challenges in isolating rare CTCs. Recent advances in CTC isolation and ex vivo culture techniques facilitates single-cell omics and the development of related animal models to study CTC-mediated metastatic progression. With these powerful tools, CTCs can potentially be used as non-invasive biomarkers predicting therapeutic response. These studies may open a new avenue for CTC-specific drug discoveries. In this short review, we aim to summarize recent progress in the characterization of CTCs and their clinical relevance in various cancers, setting the stage for realizing personalized therapies against metastases.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fgene.2021.734595/fullcirculating tumor cellscancer metastasisnon-invasive biomarkertherapeutic responseliquid biopsymicrofluidic engineering |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Jialing Liu Jingru Lian Yafei Chen Xin Zhao ChangZheng Du Yang Xu Hailiang Hu Hai Rao Xin Hong |
spellingShingle |
Jialing Liu Jingru Lian Yafei Chen Xin Zhao ChangZheng Du Yang Xu Hailiang Hu Hai Rao Xin Hong Circulating Tumor Cells (CTCs): A Unique Model of Cancer Metastases and Non-invasive Biomarkers of Therapeutic Response Frontiers in Genetics circulating tumor cells cancer metastasis non-invasive biomarker therapeutic response liquid biopsy microfluidic engineering |
author_facet |
Jialing Liu Jingru Lian Yafei Chen Xin Zhao ChangZheng Du Yang Xu Hailiang Hu Hai Rao Xin Hong |
author_sort |
Jialing Liu |
title |
Circulating Tumor Cells (CTCs): A Unique Model of Cancer Metastases and Non-invasive Biomarkers of Therapeutic Response |
title_short |
Circulating Tumor Cells (CTCs): A Unique Model of Cancer Metastases and Non-invasive Biomarkers of Therapeutic Response |
title_full |
Circulating Tumor Cells (CTCs): A Unique Model of Cancer Metastases and Non-invasive Biomarkers of Therapeutic Response |
title_fullStr |
Circulating Tumor Cells (CTCs): A Unique Model of Cancer Metastases and Non-invasive Biomarkers of Therapeutic Response |
title_full_unstemmed |
Circulating Tumor Cells (CTCs): A Unique Model of Cancer Metastases and Non-invasive Biomarkers of Therapeutic Response |
title_sort |
circulating tumor cells (ctcs): a unique model of cancer metastases and non-invasive biomarkers of therapeutic response |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
series |
Frontiers in Genetics |
issn |
1664-8021 |
publishDate |
2021-08-01 |
description |
Late-stage cancer metastasis remains incurable in the clinic and is the major cause death in patients. Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are thought to be metastatic precursors shed from the primary tumor or metastatic deposits and circulate in the blood. The molecular network regulating CTC survival, extravasation, and colonization in distant metastatic sites is poorly defined, largely due to challenges in isolating rare CTCs. Recent advances in CTC isolation and ex vivo culture techniques facilitates single-cell omics and the development of related animal models to study CTC-mediated metastatic progression. With these powerful tools, CTCs can potentially be used as non-invasive biomarkers predicting therapeutic response. These studies may open a new avenue for CTC-specific drug discoveries. In this short review, we aim to summarize recent progress in the characterization of CTCs and their clinical relevance in various cancers, setting the stage for realizing personalized therapies against metastases. |
topic |
circulating tumor cells cancer metastasis non-invasive biomarker therapeutic response liquid biopsy microfluidic engineering |
url |
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fgene.2021.734595/full |
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