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Review
. 2013 Jun;32(1-2):179-88.
doi: 10.1007/s10555-012-9398-0.

Clinical application of circulating tumor cells in breast cancer: overview of the current interventional trials

François-Clément Bidard  1 , Tanja Fehm, Michail Ignatiadis, Jeffrey B Smerage, Catherine Alix-Panabières, Wolfgang Janni, Carlo Messina, Costanza Paoletti, Volkmar Müller, Daniel F Hayes, Martine Piccart, Jean-Yves Pierga
Affiliations
Review

Clinical application of circulating tumor cells in breast cancer: overview of the current interventional trials

François-Clément Bidard et al. Cancer Metastasis Rev. 2013 Jun.

Abstract

In 2004, circulating tumor cells (CTC) enumeration by the CellSearch® technique at baseline and during treatment was reported to be associated with prognosis in metastatic breast cancer patients. In 2008, the first evidence of the impact of CTC detection by this technique on survival of cM0(i+) patients were reported. These findings were confirmed by other non-interventional studies, whereas CTC were also investigated as a surrogate for tumor biology, mainly for HER2 expression/amplification. The aim of this report is to present the current prospective large interventional studies that have been specifically designed to demonstrate that CTC enumeration/characterization may improve the management of breast cancer patients: STIC CTC METABREAST (France) and Endocrine Therapy Index (USA) assess the CTC-guided hormone therapy vs chemotherapy decision in M1 patients; SWOG0500 (USA) and CirCe01 (France) assess the CTC count changes during treatment in metastatic patients; DETECT III (M1 patients, Germany) and Treat CTC (cM0(i+) patients, European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer/Breast International Group) assess the use of anti-HER2 treatments in HER2-negative breast cancer patients selected on the basis of CTC detection/characterization. These trials have different designs in various patient populations but are expected to be the pivotal trials for CTC implementation in the routine management of breast cancer patients.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The STIC CTC METABREAST trial design
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
The SWOG 0500 trial design
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
The design of the interventional part of the CirCe01 trial
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
The Treat CTC trial design
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
The DETECT III trial design
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
The CirCe XXX1 (provisional name) trial design
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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