Redefining cancer care: harnessing circulating tumor cells' potential for improved diagnosis and prognosis.

ABSTRACT: Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) represent a small but clinically relevant pool of cells from tumors that can be sampled with minimally-invasive liquid biopsy procedures. They are dynamic and poorly-defined transition state of cancer cells, offering vital insights into tumor progression and metastasis. CTC frequencies are emerging as real-time means for therapeutic monitoring and patient stratification across different malignancies. However, their detection, isolation, and characterization pose a major challenge leading to variation in their counts that limit their clinical utility. This review delves into the key parameter, CTC counts, which often correlate with clinical outcomes. Further, it highlights the significance of culturing CTCs in vitro and employing CTC-derived xenograft (CDX) mo

SUBMITTER: Janjua D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12273008 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature