title: Circulating tumour cells as biomarkers of prostate, bladder, and kidney cancer.
abstract: Circulating tumour cells (CTCs) have been studied as biomarkers of a number of solid malignancies. Potential clinical applications for CTC analysis include early cancer detection, disease staging, monitoring for recurrence, prognostication, and to aid in the selection of therapy. In the field of urologic oncology, CTCs have been most widely studied as prognostic biomarkers of castration-resistant prostate cancer. Additionally, emerging data support a role for CTCs to help identify which patients are most likely to respond to novel androgen-pathway targeted therapies, such as abiraterone and enzalutamide. CTCs have also been studied as predictive biomarkers of bladder cancer, in particular as a means to identify patients whose disease has been clinically understaged. Less is known regarding CTCs in kidney cancer; this has been attributed to the fact that a minority of renal tumours express EpCAM, the epithelial cell surface protein commonly used by CTC assays for positive cell selection. However, alternative approaches using markers specific for kidney cancer are being explored.
authors.affiliation: The James Buchanan Brady Urological Institute and Department of Urology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 600 North Wolfe Street, Marburg 134, Baltimore, Maryland 21287, USA.
authors.forename: Michael A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Gorin
authors.affiliation: The James Buchanan Brady Urological Institute and Department of Urology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 600 North Wolfe Street, Marburg 134, Baltimore, Maryland 21287, USA.
authors.forename: James E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Verdone
authors.affiliation: The James Buchanan Brady Urological Institute and Department of Urology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 600 North Wolfe Street, Marburg 134, Baltimore, Maryland 21287, USA.
authors.forename: Emma
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: van der Toom
authors.affiliation: The James Buchanan Brady Urological Institute and Department of Urology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 600 North Wolfe Street, Marburg 134, Baltimore, Maryland 21287, USA.
authors.forename: Trinity J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Bivalacqua
authors.affiliation: The James Buchanan Brady Urological Institute and Department of Urology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 600 North Wolfe Street, Marburg 134, Baltimore, Maryland 21287, USA.
authors.forename: Mohamad E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Allaf
authors.affiliation: The James Buchanan Brady Urological Institute and Department of Urology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 600 North Wolfe Street, Marburg 134, Baltimore, Maryland 21287, USA.
authors.forename: Kenneth J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Pienta
mesh_terms: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007680:Kidney Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis; D008297:Male; D009360:Neoplastic Cells, Circulating / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis; D001749:Urinary Bladder Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor