Circulating Tumor Cells in the context of Personalized Medical: Diagnosis and Treatment of Cancer

Introduction: Cancer is the result of uncontrolled growth of cells and the creation of tumors. Cancer cells can metastasize and move from one place to another place through the bloodstream or the lymphatic system. Although a significant proportion of patients diagnosed with cancer are cured by surgery or adjuvant systemic treatment, many patients still die due to the development of metastatic disease. Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are believed to be responsible for the growth of metastatic disease. Over the past few years, the study of CTCs for understanding metastasis as well as developing diagnoses associated with predicting patient response to targeted anticancer therapies has opened new horizons for cancer diagnosis and treatment.Description: CTCs are cancer cells that have escaped from a primary tumor or metastatic site. Some of them can survive in the bloodstream, migrate to the interstitial space, and eventually lead to distant tumor formation in a new microenvironment. There are several challenges related to the detection of CTCs: (1) CTCs are rare cells in the background of large numbers of blood cells, (2) CTCs need to be diagnosed prior to the enrichment stage. Diagnosis of CTCs is often performed using immunocytological or molecular technologies for specific markers. Because CTCs are cytokeratin positive, they can be detected using antibodies against cytokeratin. These CD45-negative cells are detectable from leukocytes present in the bloodstream. In addition, functional assays such as cell culture or xenotransplantation are also used in mouse models.Discussion and conclusion: These technologies can detect diverse subtypes of CTCs with different sensitivity and purity. CTCs have great potential for usage in personalized medicine to choose effective treatments for each person based on the various types of these cells and their distinct function in different individuals.