The Clinical Relevance of Circulating Tumor Cells in Early Breast Cancer

Abstract

Isolated tumor cells can be detected in peripheral blood and bone marrow of breast cancer patients. The prognostic significance of disseminated tumor cells (DTC) in bone marrow (BM) has been demonstrated in a large pooled analysis (level I evidence). Since BM biopsies are not well tolerated by many patients, evaluation of circulating tumor cells (CTC) in blood may represent an important alternative. Recent studies have indicateda prognostic significance of CTC in both the primary and metastatic setting. The evaluation of CTC may become one of the crucial markers for prediction of survival and therapymonitoring, and its characterization might enable specific targeting of minimal residual as well as metastatic disease. This report provides an overview of ongoing studies regarding CTC as well as the clinical relevance of CTC in primary and metastatic breast cancer. © Urban & Vogel 2012.