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Review
. 2016 Sep 20;17(9):1580.
doi: 10.3390/ijms17091580.

Clinical Application of Circulating Tumour Cells in Prostate Cancer: From Bench to Bedside and Back

Luis León-Mateos  1 , María Vieito  2 , Urbano Anido  3 , Rafael López López  4 , Laura Muinelo Romay  5
Affiliations
Review

Clinical Application of Circulating Tumour Cells in Prostate Cancer: From Bench to Bedside and Back

Luis León-Mateos et al. Int J Mol Sci. .

Abstract

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men worldwide. To improve future drug development and patient management, surrogate biomarkers associated with relevant outcomes are required. Circulating tumour cells (CTCs) are tumour cells that can enter the circulatory system, and are principally responsible for the development of metastasis at distant sites. In recent years, interest in detecting CTCs as a surrogate biomarker has ghiiukjrown. Clinical studies have revealed that high levels of CTCs in the blood correlate with disease progression in patients with prostate cancer; however, their predictive value for monitoring therapeutic response is less clear. Despite the important progress in CTC clinical development, there are critical requirements for the implementation of their analysis as a routine oncology tool. The goal of the present review is to provide an update on the advances in the clinical validation of CTCs as a surrogate biomarker and to discuss the principal obstacles and main challenges to their inclusion in clinical practice.

Keywords: circulating tumour cells; precision oncology; prostate cancer; tumour markers.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Schematic representing the value of CTCs for achieving precision oncology in patients with prostate cancer.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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