Clinical implications of circulating tumor cells of breast cancer patients: role of epithelial-mesenchymal plasticity.

ABSTRACT: There is increasing interest in circulating tumor cells (CTCs) due to their purported role in breast cancer metastasis, and their potential as a "liquid biopsy" tool in breast cancer diagnosis and management. There are, however, questions with regards to the reliability and consistency of CTC detection and to the relationship between CTCs and prognosis, which is limiting their clinical utility. There is increasing acceptance that the ability of CTCs to alter from an epithelial to mesenchymal phenotype plays an important role in determining the metastatic potential of these cells. This review examines the phenotypic and genetic variation, which has been reported within CTC populations. Importantly, we discuss how the detection and characterization of CTCs provides additional and often diffe

SUBMITTER: McInnes LM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4341429 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature