Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Circulating tumor cells: clinical validity and utility

  • Invited Review Article
  • Published:
International Journal of Clinical Oncology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are rare tumor cells and have been investigated as diagnostic, prognostic and predictive biomarkers in many types of cancer. Although CTCs are not currently used in clinical practice, CTC studies have accumulated a high level of clinical validity, especially in breast, lung, prostate and colorectal cancers. In this review, we present an overview of the current clinical validity of CTCs in metastatic and non-metastatic disease, and the main concepts and studies investigating the clinical utility of CTCs. In particular, this review will focus on breast, lung, colorectal and prostate cancer. Three major topics concerning the clinical utility of CTC are discussed—(1) treatment based on CTCs used as liquid biopsy, (2) treatment based on CTC count or CTC variations, and (3) treatment based on CTC biomarker expression. A summary of published or ongoing phase II and III trials is also presented.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Ashworth TR (1869) A case of cancer in which cells similar to those in the tumours were seen in the blood after death. Aust Med J. 1869; 14: 146−147

  2. Ferreira MM, Ramani VC, Jeffrey SS (2016) Circulating tumor cell technologies. Mol Oncol 10:374–394. doi:10.1016/j.molonc.2016.01.007

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Coumans FAW, Ligthart ST, Uhr JW et al (2012) Challenges in the enumeration and phenotyping of CTC. Clin Cancer Res Off J Am Assoc Cancer Res 18:5711–5718. doi:10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-12-1585

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Kirby BJ, Jodari M, Loftus MS et al (2012) Functional characterization of circulating tumor cells with a prostate-cancer-specific microfluidic device. PLoS One 7:e35976. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0035976

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  5. Raimondi C, Nicolazzo C, Gradilone A et al (2014) Circulating tumor cells: exploring intratumor heterogeneity of colorectal cancer. Cancer Biol Ther 15:496–503. doi:10.4161/cbt.28020

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  6. Harb W, Fan A, Tran T et al (2013) Mutational analysis of circulating tumor cells using a novel microfluidic collection device and qPCR Assay. Transl Oncol 6:528–538

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  7. Pestrin M, Salvianti F, Galardi F et al (2015) Heterogeneity of PIK3CA mutational status at the single cell level in circulating tumor cells from metastatic breast cancer patients. Mol Oncol 9:749–757. doi:10.1016/j.molonc.2014.12.001

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Mayer JA, Pham T, Wong KL et al (2011) FISH-based determination of HER2 status in circulating tumor cells isolated with the microfluidic CEE™ platform. Cancer Genet 204:589–595. doi:10.1016/j.cancergen.2011.10.011

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Kanwar N, Hu P, Bedard P et al (2015) Identification of genomic signatures in circulating tumor cells from breast cancer. Int J Cancer 137:332–344. doi:10.1002/ijc.29399

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Chimonidou M, Kallergi G, Georgoulias V et al (2013) Breast cancer metastasis suppressor-1 promoter methylation in primary breast tumors and corresponding circulating tumor cells. Mol Cancer Res 11:1248–1257. doi:10.1158/1541-7786.MCR-13-0096

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Mostert B, Sieuwerts AM, Kraan J et al (2015) Gene expression profiles in circulating tumor cells to predict prognosis in metastatic breast cancer patients. Ann Oncol 26:510–516. doi:10.1093/annonc/mdu557

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Khoo BL, Warkiani ME, Tan DS-W et al (2014) Clinical validation of an ultra high-throughput spiral microfluidics for the detection and enrichment of viable circulating tumor cells. PLoS One 9:e99409. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0099409

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  13. Ligthart ST, Bidard F-C, Decraene C et al (2013) Unbiased quantitative assessment of Her-2 expression of circulating tumor cells in patients with metastatic and non-metastatic breast cancer. Ann Oncol 24:1231–1238. doi:10.1093/annonc/mds625

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Gasch C, Oldopp T, Mauermann O et al (2016) Frequent detection of PIK3CA mutations in single circulating tumor cells of patients suffering from HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer. Mol Oncol 10:1330–1343. doi:10.1016/j.molonc.2016.07.005

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Bidard F-C, Weigelt B, Reis-Filho JS (2013) Going with the flow: from circulating tumor cells to DNA. Sci Transl Med 5:207ps14. doi:10.1126/scitranslmed.3006305

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Pailler E, Adam J, Barthélémy A et al (2013) Detection of circulating tumor cells harboring a unique ALK rearrangement in ALK-positive non-small-cell lung cancer. J Clin Oncol 31:2273–2281. doi:10.1200/JCO.2012.44.5932

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Antonarakis ES, Lu C, Wang H et al (2014) AR-V7 and resistance to enzalutamide and abiraterone in prostate cancer. N Engl J Med 371:1028–1038. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa1315815

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  18. Scher HI, Graf RP, Schreiber NA et al (2016) Nuclear-specific AR-V7 protein localization is necessary to guide treatment selection in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. Eur Urol. doi:10.1016/j.eururo.2016.11.024

    Google Scholar 

  19. Mazel M, Jacot W, Pantel K et al (2015) Frequent expression of PD-L1 on circulating breast cancer cells. Mol Oncol 9:1773–1782. doi:10.1016/j.molonc.2015.05.009

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Paoletti C, Larios JM, Muñiz MC et al (2016) Heterogeneous estrogen receptor expression in circulating tumor cells suggests diverse mechanisms of fulvestrant resistance. Mol Oncol 10:1078–1085. doi:10.1016/j.molonc.2016.04.006

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Markowski MC, Frick KD, Eshleman JR et al (2016) Cost-savings analysis of AR-V7 testing in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer eligible for treatment with abiraterone or enzalutamide. Prostate 76:1484–1490. doi:10.1002/pros.23232

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Bidard F-C, Proudhon C, Pierga J-Y (2016) Circulating tumor cells in breast cancer. Mol Oncol 10:418–430. doi:10.1016/j.molonc.2016.01.001

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Gazzaniga P, Gradilone A, de Berardinis E et al (2012) Prognostic value of circulating tumor cells in nonmuscle invasive bladder cancer: a cell search analysis. Ann Oncol 23:2352–2356. doi:10.1093/annonc/mdr619

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. van Dalum G, Stam G-J, Scholten LFA et al (2015) Importance of circulating tumor cells in newly diagnosed colorectal cancer. Int J Oncol 46:1361–1368. doi:10.3892/ijo.2015.2824

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Bork U, Rahbari NN, Schölch S et al (2015) Circulating tumour cells and outcome in non-metastatic colorectal cancer: a prospective study. Br J Cancer 112:1306–1313. doi:10.1038/bjc.2015.88

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  26. Pierga J-Y, Bidard F-C, Mathiot C et al (2008) Circulating tumor cell detection predicts early metastatic relapse after neoadjuvant chemotherapy in large operable and locally advanced breast cancer in a phase II randomized trial. Clin Cancer Res 14:7004–7010. doi:10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-08-0030

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Magni E, Botteri E, Ravenda PS et al (2014) Detection of circulating tumor cells in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer undergoing neoadjuvant therapy followed by curative surgery. Int J Colorectal Dis 29:1053–1059. doi:10.1007/s00384-014-1958-z

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Loh J, Jovanovic L, Lehman M et al (2014) Circulating tumor cell detection in high-risk non-metastatic prostate cancer. J Cancer Res Clin Oncol 140:2157–2162. doi:10.1007/s00432-014-1775-3

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Thalgott M, Rack B, Horn T et al (2015) Detection of circulating tumor cells in locally advanced high-risk prostate cancer during neoadjuvant chemotherapy and radical prostatectomy. Anticancer Res 35:5679–5685

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Bidard FC, Huguet F, Louvet C et al (2013) Circulating tumor cells in locally advanced pancreatic adenocarcinoma: the ancillary CirCe 07 study to the LAP 07 trial. Ann Oncol 24:2057–2061. doi:10.1093/annonc/mdt176

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  31. Allard WJ, Matera J, Miller MC et al (2004) Tumor cells circulate in the peripheral blood of all major carcinomas but not in healthy subjects or patients with nonmalignant diseases. Clin Cancer Res 10:6897–6904. doi:10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-04-0378

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Fiorelli A, Accardo M, Carelli E et al (2015) Circulating tumor cells in diagnosing lung cancer: clinical and morphologic analysis. Ann Thorac Surg 99:1899–1905. doi:10.1016/j.athoracsur.2014.11.049

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Ilie M, Hofman V, Long-Mira E et al (2014) “Sentinel” circulating tumor cells allow early diagnosis of lung cancer in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. PLoS One 9:e111597. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0111597

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  34. Bidard F-C, Peeters DJ, Fehm T et al (2014) Clinical validity of circulating tumour cells in patients with metastatic breast cancer: a pooled analysis of individual patient data. Lancet Oncol 15:406–414. doi:10.1016/S1470-2045(14)70069-5

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  35. Huang X, Gao P, Song Y et al (2015) Meta-analysis of the prognostic value of circulating tumor cells detected with the cell search system in colorectal cancer. BMC Cancer 15:202. doi:10.1186/s12885-015-1218-9

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  36. Rahbari NN, Aigner M, Thorlund K et al (2010) Meta-analysis shows that detection of circulating tumor cells indicates poor prognosis in patients with colorectal cancer. Gastroenterology 138:1714–1726. doi:10.1053/j.gastro.2010.01.008

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  37. Tol J, Koopman M, Miller MC et al (2010) Circulating tumour cells early predict progression-free and overall survival in advanced colorectal cancer patients treated with chemotherapy and targeted agents. Ann Oncol 21:1006–1012. doi:10.1093/annonc/mdp463

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  38. Cohen SJ, Punt CJA, Iannotti N et al (2008) Relationship of circulating tumor cells to tumor response, progression-free survival, and overall survival in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. J Clin Oncol 26:3213–3221. doi:10.1200/JCO.2007.15.8923

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  39. Sastre J, Maestro ML, Gómez-España A et al (2012) Circulating tumor cell count is a prognostic factor in metastatic colorectal cancer patients receiving first-line chemotherapy plus bevacizumab: a Spanish Cooperative Group for the Treatment of Digestive Tumors study. Oncologist 17:947–955. doi:10.1634/theoncologist.2012-0048

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  40. Yokobori T, Iinuma H, Shimamura T et al (2013) Plastin3 is a novel marker for circulating tumor cells undergoing the epithelial-mesenchymal transition and is associated with colorectal cancer prognosis. Cancer Res 73:2059–2069. doi:10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-12-0326

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  41. Krebs MG, Renehan AG, Backen A et al (2015) Circulating tumor cell enumeration in a phase II trial of a four-drug regimen in advanced colorectal cancer. Clin Colorectal Cancer 14:115–122. doi:10.1016/j.clcc.2014.12.006

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  42. Vlaeminck-Guillem V (2015) When prostate cancer circulates in the bloodstream. Diagn Basel Switz 5:428–474. doi:10.3390/diagnostics5040428

    Google Scholar 

  43. Scher HI, Heller G, Molina A et al (2015) Circulating tumor cell biomarker panel as an individual-level surrogate for survival in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. J Clin Oncol 33:1348–1355. doi:10.1200/JCO.2014.55.3487

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  44. Punnoose EA, Atwal S, Liu W et al (2012) Evaluation of circulating tumor cells and circulating tumor DNA in non-small cell lung cancer: association with clinical endpoints in a phase II clinical trial of pertuzumab and erlotinib. Clin Cancer Res 18:2391–2401. doi:10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-11-3148

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  45. Krebs MG, Sloane R, Priest L et al (2011) Evaluation and prognostic significance of circulating tumor cells in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer. J Clin Oncol 29:1556–1563. doi:10.1200/JCO.2010.28.7045

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  46. Hou J-M, Krebs MG, Lancashire L et al (2012) Clinical significance and molecular characteristics of circulating tumor cells and circulating tumor microemboli in patients with small-cell lung cancer. J Clin Oncol 30:525–532. doi:10.1200/JCO.2010.33.3716

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  47. Bidard F-C, Michiels S, et al (2016) IMENEO: International MEta-analysis of circulating tumor cell detection in early breast cancer patients treated by NEOadjuvant chemotherapy. In: Abstracts of the thirty-ninth annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, San Antonio, Texas, 6-10 December 2016. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.SABCS16-S3-01

  48. Pierga J-Y, Bidard F-C, Autret A et al (2016) Circulating tumour cells and pathological complete response: independent prognostic factors in inflammatory breast cancer in a pooled analysis of two multicentre phase II trials (BEVERLY-1 and -2) of neoadjuvant chemotherapy combined with bevacizumab. Ann Oncol. doi:10.1093/annonc/mdw535

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  49. Rack B, Schindlbeck C, Jückstock J et al (2014) Circulating tumor cells predict survival in early average-to-high risk breast cancer patients. J Natl Cancer Inst. doi:10.1093/jnci/dju066

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  50. Scholten L, Terstappen LWMM, van der Palen J et al (2012) Circulating tumor cells as a possible prognostic tool in newly diagnosed nonmetastatic colorectal cancer? ASCO Meet Abstr 30:395

    Google Scholar 

  51. Iinuma H, Watanabe T, Mimori K et al (2011) Clinical significance of circulating tumor cells, including cancer stem-like cells, in peripheral blood for recurrence and prognosis in patients with Dukes’ stage B and C colorectal cancer. J Clin Oncol 29:1547–1555. doi:10.1200/JCO.2010.30.5151

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  52. Sotelo MJ, Sastre J, Maestro ML et al (2015) Role of circulating tumor cells as prognostic marker in resected stage III colorectal cancer. Ann Oncol 26:535–541. doi:10.1093/annonc/mdu568

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  53. Lu C-Y, Tsai H-L, Uen Y-H et al (2013) Circulating tumor cells as a surrogate marker for determining clinical outcome to mFOLFOX chemotherapy in patients with stage III colon cancer. Br J Cancer 108:791–797. doi:10.1038/bjc.2012.595

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  54. Yoon SO, Kim YT, Jung KC et al (2011) TTF-1 mRNA-positive circulating tumor cells in the peripheral blood predict poor prognosis in surgically resected non-small cell lung cancer patients. Lung Cancer 71:209–216. doi:10.1016/j.lungcan.2010.04.017

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  55. Bayarri-Lara C, Ortega FG, de Guevara ACL et al (2016) Circulating tumor cells identify early recurrence in patients with non-small cell lung cancer undergoing radical resection. PLoS One 11:e0148659. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0148659

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  56. Zhu W-F, Li J, Yu L-C et al (2014) Prognostic value of EpCAM/MUC1 mRNA-positive cells in non-small cell lung cancer patients. Tumour Biol 35:1211–1219. doi:10.1007/s13277-013-1162-8

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  57. Cabel L, Proudhon C, Mariani P et al (2017) Circulating tumor cells and circulating tumor DNA: what surgical oncologists need to know? Eur J Surg Oncol. doi:10.1016/j.ejso.2017.01.010

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  58. Danila DC, Heller G, Gignac GA et al (2007) Circulating tumor cell number and prognosis in progressive castration-resistant prostate cancer. Clin Cancer Res 13:7053–7058. doi:10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-07-1506

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  59. Heidary M, Auer M, Ulz P et al (2014) The dynamic range of circulating tumor DNA in metastatic breast cancer. Breast Cancer Res 16:421. doi:10.1186/s13058-014-0421-y

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  60. Tie J, Wang Y, Tomasetti C et al (2016) Circulating tumor DNA analysis detects minimal residual disease and predicts recurrence in patients with stage II colon cancer. Sci Transl Med 8:346ra92. doi:10.1126/scitranslmed.aaf6219

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  61. Cristofanilli M, Budd GT, Ellis MJ et al (2004) Circulating tumor cells, disease progression, and survival in metastatic breast cancer. N Engl J Med 351:781–791. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa040766

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  62. de Bono JS, Scher HI, Montgomery RB et al (2008) Circulating tumor cells predict survival benefit from treatment in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. Clin Cancer Res 14:6302–6309. doi:10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-08-0872

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  63. Goldkorn A, Ely B, Quinn DI et al (2014) Circulating tumor cell counts are prognostic of overall survival in SWOG S0421: a phase III trial of docetaxel with or without atrasentan for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. J Clin Oncol 32:1136–1142. doi:10.1200/JCO.2013.51.7417

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  64. Pearl ML, Dong H, Tulley S et al (2015) Treatment monitoring of patients with epithelial ovarian cancer using invasive circulating tumor cells (iCTCs). Gynecol Oncol 137:229–238. doi:10.1016/j.ygyno.2015.03.002

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  65. Ma J, Yao S, Li X-S et al (2015) Neoadjuvant therapy of dof regimen plus bevacizumab can increase surgical resection ratein locally advanced gastric cancer: a randomized controlled study. Medicine (Baltimore) 94:e1489. doi:10.1097/MD.0000000000001489

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  66. Zitt M, Zitt M, Müller HM et al (2006) Disseminated tumor cells in peripheral blood: a novel marker for therapy response in locally advanced rectal cancer patients undergoing preoperative chemoradiation. Dis Colon Rectum 49:1484–1491. doi:10.1007/s10350-006-0673-4

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  67. Kienle P, Koch M, Autschbach F et al (2003) Decreased detection rate of disseminated tumor cells of rectal cancer patients after preoperative chemoradiation: a first step towards a molecular surrogate marker for neoadjuvant treatment in colorectal cancer. Ann Surg 238:324–331. doi:10.1097/01.sla.0000086547.27615.e6

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  68. Gorges TM, Kuske A, Röck K et al (2016) Accession of tumor heterogeneity by multiplex transcriptome profiling of single circulating tumor cells. Clin Chem 62:1504–1515. doi:10.1373/clinchem.2016.260299

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  69. Bidard F-C, Pierga J-Y, Soria J-C et al (2013) Translating metastasis-related biomarkers to the clinic—progress and pitfalls. Nat Rev Clin Oncol 10:169–179. doi:10.1038/nrclinonc.2013.4

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  70. Smerage JB, Barlow WE, Hortobagyi GN et al (2014) Circulating tumor cells and response to chemotherapy in metastatic breast cancer: SWOG S0500. J Clin Oncol 32:3483–3489. doi:10.1200/JCO.2014.56.2561

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  71. Bidard F-C, Pierga J-Y (2015) Clinical utility of circulating tumor cells in metastatic breast cancer. J Clin Oncol 33:1622. doi:10.1200/JCO.2014.57.9714

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  72. Pestrin M, Bessi S, Puglisi F et al (2012) Final results of a multicenter phase II clinical trial evaluating the activity of single-agent lapatinib in patients with HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer and HER2-positive circulating tumor cells. A proof-of-concept study. Breast Cancer Res Treat 134:283–289. doi:10.1007/s10549-012-2045-1

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  73. Stebbing J, Payne R, Reise J et al (2013) the efficacy of lapatinib in metastatic breast cancer with HER2 non-amplified primary tumors and egfr positive circulating tumor cells: a proof-of-concept study. PLoS One. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0062543

    Google Scholar 

  74. Georgoulias V, Bozionelou V, Agelaki S et al (2012) Trastuzumab decreases the incidence of clinical relapses in patients with early breast cancer presenting chemotherapy-resistant CK-19mRNA-positive circulating tumor cells: results of a randomized phase II study. Ann Oncol 23:1744–1750. doi:10.1093/annonc/mds020

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  75. Yu M, Bardia A, Wittner BS et al (2013) Circulating breast tumor cells exhibit dynamic changes in epithelial and mesenchymal composition. Science 339:580–584. doi:10.1126/science.1228522

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  76. Aceto N, Bardia A, Miyamoto DT et al (2014) Circulating tumor cell clusters are oligoclonal precursors of breast cancer metastasis. Cell 158:1110–1122. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2014.07.013

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  77. Mitra A, Mishra L, Li S (2015) EMT, CTCs and CSCs in tumor relapse and drug-resistance. Oncotarget 6:10697–10711

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  78. Whittle JR, Lewis MT, Lindeman GJ et al (2015) Patient-derived xenograft models of breast cancer and their predictive power. Breast Cancer Res. doi:10.1186/s13058-015-0523-1

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  79. Agelaki S, Kalykaki A, Markomanolaki H et al (2015) Efficacy of lapatinib in therapy-resistant HER2-positive circulating tumor cells in metastatic breast cancer. PLoS One 10:e0123683. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0123683

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  80. Hainsworth JD, Murphy PB, Alemar JR et al (2016) Use of a multiplexed immunoassay (PRO Onc assay) to detect HER2 abnormalities in circulating tumor cells of women with HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer: lack of response to HER2-targeted therapy. Breast Cancer Res Treat 160:41–49. doi:10.1007/s10549-016-3969-7

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The Laboratory of Circulating Tumor Biomarkers is supported by grants from Institut Curie SiRIC (Grant INCa-DGOS-4654) and from the Innovative Medicines Initiative joint undertaking (under Grant agreement no. 115749; project Cancer-ID).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medical Oncology, Institut Curie, PSL Research University, 26 rue d’Ulm, 75005, Paris, France

    Luc Cabel, Hugo Gortais, Delphine Loirat, Florence Coussy, Jean-Yves Pierga & François-Clément Bidard

  2. Circulating Tumor Biomarkers Laboratory, SiRIC, Institut Curie, PSL Research University, Paris, France

    Luc Cabel, Charlotte Proudhon, Jean-Yves Pierga & François-Clément Bidard

  3. Translational Immunotherapy Team, SiRIC, Institut Curie, PSL Research University, Paris, France

    Delphine Loirat

  4. Paris Descartes University, Paris, France

    Jean-Yves Pierga

  5. Versailles-Saint-Quentin University, Paris-Saclay, Saint Cloud, France

    François-Clément Bidard

Authors
  1. Luc Cabel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Charlotte Proudhon
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Hugo Gortais
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Delphine Loirat
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Florence Coussy
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Jean-Yves Pierga
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. François-Clément Bidard
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Luc Cabel.

Ethics declarations

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no potential conflicts of interest.

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Cabel, L., Proudhon, C., Gortais, H. et al. Circulating tumor cells: clinical validity and utility. Int J Clin Oncol 22, 421–430 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10147-017-1105-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10147-017-1105-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation