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Review
. 2024 Nov 29;10(1):103.
doi: 10.1038/s41523-024-00706-7.

Circulating tumor cells in breast cancer: clinical validity and utility

Thibault Thomas-Bonafos  1   2 , Jean Yves Pierga  1   2   3 , François-Clément Bidard  1   2   4 , Luc Cabel #  1   2 , Nicolas Kiavue #  5   6
Affiliations
Review

Circulating tumor cells in breast cancer: clinical validity and utility

Thibault Thomas-Bonafos et al. NPJ Breast Cancer. .

Abstract

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) have been extensively studied in breast cancer (BC), with large studies establishing CTCs as a robust prognostic biomarker in early and metastatic breast cancer (MBC). Several phase II and phase III trials have investigated the clinical utility of CTCs in BC. Here, we outline the current landscape for the use of CTCs in the clinic at different stages of BC, focusing first on early BC, then on MBC, with a particular focus on interventional clinical trials based on CTCs.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1. Hazard ratios (HR) for overall survival (OS) with their 95% confidence interval (CI 95%) in main meta-analyses assessing the clinical validity of circulating tumor cells (CTCs), according to the CTC count cut-off; in both early breast cancer (EBC) and metastatic breast cancer (MBC).
Analyses are multivariate unless specified otherwise. NCT: neoadjuvant chemotherapy.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2. Median progression-free survival (mPFS) and median overall survival (mOS) results with their 95% confidence interval (CI 95%) for the STIC CTC trial, in the four subgroups defined by the clinician’s choice of therapy (Clinhigh or Clinlow) and the CTC count (CTChigh or CTClow).
HR: hazard ratio.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3. Summary of the data supporting the clinical validity and utility of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) at different stages of breast cancer.
CT: chemotherapy, ET: endocrine therapy, MBC: metastatic breast cancer.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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