title: The Evolving Role of Circulating Tumor Cells in the Personalized Management of Breast Cancer: from Enumeration to Molecular Characterization.
abstract: Circulating Tumor cells (CTCs) represent tumor cells in the blood stream dislodged from the primary tumor. The presence of CTCs in the bloodstream provides a unique opportunity to sample cancer tissue by means of a relatively less-invasive "liquid biopsy." Over the past decade, there has been a tremendous increase in the amount of research examining the potential clinical utility of CTCs in the management of cancer. A number of techniques to refine the sensitivity and range of CTC assays are also in development. In this article, we review the recent developments in the current and potential clinical applications of CTCs in breast cancer. CTC enumeration already has an established role as a prognostic biomarker in metastatic breast cancer, while molecular characterization of CTCs can serve as a potential predictive biomarker for therapy selection, pharmacodynamic evaluation, and identification of novel actionable targets for novel therapies. The role of CTCs in breast cancer screening and detection of recurrence is currently limited. Further development in techniques will be pivotal in enhancing the broad applicability of CTCs and advancing the field of personalized breast cancer therapy.
authors.affiliation: Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
authors.forename: Sasmit
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sarangi
authors.affiliation: University of Nebraska, Omaha, NE.
authors.forename: Kailash
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mosulpuria
authors.affiliation: Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
authors.forename: Michaela J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Higgins
authors.affiliation: Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
authors.forename: Aditya
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bardia
keywords: breast cancer; circulating tumor cells; molecular characterization; personalized medicine