Detection and Clinical Significance of Circulating Tumor Cells in Colorectal Cancer

Overview

Journal Biomark Res

Publisher Biomed Central

Date 2021 Nov 20

PMID 34798902

Citations 21

Authors

Miao Jiang

Shuiling Jin

Jinming Han

Tong Li

Jianxiang Shi

Qian Zhong

Wen Li

Wenxue Tang

Qinqin Huang

Hong Zong

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Histopathological examination (biopsy) is the "gold standard" for the diagnosis of colorectal cancer (CRC). However, biopsy is an invasive method, and due to the temporal and spatial heterogeneity of the tumor, a single biopsy cannot reveal the comprehensive biological characteristics and dynamic changes of the tumor. Therefore, there is a need for new biomarkers to improve CRC diagnosis and to monitor and treat CRC patients. Numerous studies have shown that "liquid biopsy" is a promising minimally invasive method for early CRC detection. A liquid biopsy mainly samples circulating tumor cells (CTCs), circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA), microRNA (miRNA) and extracellular vesicles (EVs). CTCs are malignant cells that are shed from the primary tumors and/or metastases into the peripheral circulation. CTCs carry information on both primary tumors and metastases that can reflect dynamic changes in tumors in a timely manner. As a promising biomarker, CTCs can be used for early disease detection, treatment response and disease progression evaluation, disease mechanism elucidation, and therapeutic target identification for drug development. This review will discuss currently available technologies for plasma CTC isolation and detection, their utility in the management of CRC patients and future research directions.

Citing Articles

Establishing cM0 (i+) stage criteria in localized renal cell carcinoma based on postoperative circulating tumor cells monitoring.

Chong Y, Zhou H, Zhang P, Xue L, Du Q, Chong T BMC Cancer. 2025; 25(1):436.

PMID: 40069681 PMC: 11895218. DOI: 10.1186/s12885-025-13815-8.

Intravoxel incoherent motion diffusion-weighted imaging in nasopharyngeal carcinoma: comparison of the turbo spin-echo and echo-planar imaging techniques.

Liu Y, Hu L, Qian L, Chen M, Xu S, Sun P Quant Imaging Med Surg. 2024; 14(12):9101-9111.

PMID: 39698659 PMC: 11652045. DOI: 10.21037/qims-24-1021.

Nanomaterial-based detection of circulating tumor cells and circulating cancer stem cells for cancer immunotherapy.

Yun Y, Kim S, Lee S, Cho H, Choi J Nano Converg. 2024; 11(1):56.

PMID: 39671082 PMC: 11645384. DOI: 10.1186/s40580-024-00466-x.

Microfluidic biosensors for biomarker detection in body fluids: a key approach for early cancer diagnosis.

Liu Z, Zhou Y, Lu J, Gong T, Ibanez E, Cifuentes A Biomark Res. 2024; 12(1):153.

PMID: 39639411 PMC: 11622463. DOI: 10.1186/s40364-024-00697-4.

CXCL12-loaded-hydrogel (CLG): A new device for metastatic circulating tumor cells (CTCs) capturing and characterization.

Portella L, Bertolini G, Guardascione G, Di Febbraro D, Ierano C, DAlterio C Heliyon. 2024; 10(15):e35524.

PMID: 39170328 PMC: 11336720. DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e35524.

References

Joosse S, Souche F, Babayan A, Gasch C, Kerkhoven R, Ramos J . Chromosomal Aberrations Associated with Sequential Steps of the Metastatic Cascade in Colorectal Cancer Patients. Clin Chem. 2018; 64(10):1505-1512. DOI: 10.1373/clinchem.2018.289819. View

Matikas A, Voutsina A, Lagoudaki E, Hatzidaki D, Trypaki M, Stoupis G . Detection of KRAS Exon 2 Mutations in Circulating Tumor Cells Isolated by the ISET System from Patients with RAS Wild Type Metastatic Colorectal Cancer. Transl Oncol. 2017; 10(4):693-698. PMC: 5503828. DOI: 10.1016/j.tranon.2017.06.005. View

Satelli A, Batth I, Brownlee Z, Mitra A, Zhou S, Noh H . EMT circulating tumor cells detected by cell-surface vimentin are associated with prostate cancer progression. Oncotarget. 2017; 8(30):49329-49337. PMC: 5564771. DOI: 10.18632/oncotarget.17632. View

Campton D, Ramirez A, Nordberg J, Drovetto N, Clein A, Varshavskaya P . High-recovery visual identification and single-cell retrieval of circulating tumor cells for genomic analysis using a dual-technology platform integrated with automated immunofluorescence staining. BMC Cancer. 2015; 15:360. PMC: 4430903. DOI: 10.1186/s12885-015-1383-x. View

Chou W, Wu M, Chang P, Hsu H, Chang G, Huang W . A Prognostic Model Based on Circulating Tumour Cells is Useful for Identifying the Poorest Survival Outcome in Patients with Metastatic Colorectal Cancer. Int J Biol Sci. 2018; 14(2):137-146. PMC: 5821035. DOI: 10.7150/ijbs.23182. View

Tamminga M, de Wit S, Van De Wauwer C, van den Bos H, Swennenhuis J, Klinkenberg T . Analysis of Released Circulating Tumor Cells During Surgery for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer. Clin Cancer Res. 2019; 26(7):1656-1666. DOI: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-19-2541. View

Agerbaek M, Bang-Christensen S, Salanti A . Fighting Cancer Using an Oncofetal Glycosaminoglycan-Binding Protein from Malaria Parasites. Trends Parasitol. 2018; 35(3):178-181. DOI: 10.1016/j.pt.2018.11.004. View

Shou X, Li Y, Hu W, Ye T, Wang G, Xu F . Six-gene Assay as a new biomarker in the blood of patients with colorectal cancer: establishment and clinical validation. Mol Oncol. 2018; 13(4):781-791. PMC: 6441906. DOI: 10.1002/1878-0261.12427. View

Wei D, Zeng X, Yang Z, Zhou Q, Weng X, He H . Visualizing Interactions of Circulating Tumor Cell and Dendritic Cell in the Blood Circulation Using In Vivo Imaging Flow Cytometry. IEEE Trans Biomed Eng. 2019; 66(9):2521-2526. DOI: 10.1109/TBME.2019.2891068. View

10.

Tsutsuyama M, Nakanishi H, Yoshimura M, Oshiro T, Kinoshita T, Komori K . Detection of circulating tumor cells in drainage venous blood from colorectal cancer patients using a new filtration and cytology-based automated platform. PLoS One. 2019; 14(2):e0212221. PMC: 6392262. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0212221. View

11.

Cabezas-Camarero S, de la Orden Garcia V, Garcia-Barberan V, Mediero-Valeros B, Subhi-Issa A, Llovet Garcia P . Nasoethmoidal Intestinal-Type Adenocarcinoma Treated with Cetuximab: Role of Liquid Biopsy and BEAMing in Predicting Response to Anti-Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Therapy. Oncologist. 2019; 24(3):293-300. PMC: 6519763. DOI: 10.1634/theoncologist.2018-0387. View

12.

Pailler E, Faugeroux V, Oulhen M, Mezquita L, Laporte M, Honore A . Acquired Resistance Mutations to ALK Inhibitors Identified by Single Circulating Tumor Cell Sequencing in -Rearranged Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer. Clin Cancer Res. 2019; 25(22):6671-6682. DOI: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-19-1176. View

13.

Jiang J, Zhao H, Shu W, Tian J, Huang Y, Song Y . An integrated microfluidic device for rapid and high-sensitivity analysis of circulating tumor cells. Sci Rep. 2017; 7:42612. PMC: 5309797. DOI: 10.1038/srep42612. View

14.

Yang C, Zhuang W, Hu Y, Zhu L . Clinical significance of peripheral circulating tumor cell counts in colorectal polyps and non-metastatic colorectal cancer. World J Surg Oncol. 2018; 16(1):13. PMC: 5778777. DOI: 10.1186/s12957-017-1305-2. View

15.

Johnson E, Anand R, Chiu D . Improved detection by ensemble-decision aliquot ranking of circulating tumor cells with low numbers of a targeted surface antigen. Anal Chem. 2015; 87(18):9389-95. DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.5b02241. View

16.

Palles C, Cazier J, Howarth K, Domingo E, Jones A, Broderick P . Germline mutations affecting the proofreading domains of POLE and POLD1 predispose to colorectal adenomas and carcinomas. Nat Genet. 2012; 45(2):136-44. PMC: 3785128. DOI: 10.1038/ng.2503. View

17.

Abouleila Y, Onidani K, Ali A, Shoji H, Kawai T, Lim C . Live single cell mass spectrometry reveals cancer-specific metabolic profiles of circulating tumor cells. Cancer Sci. 2018; 110(2):697-706. PMC: 6361580. DOI: 10.1111/cas.13915. View

18.

Harouaka R, Nisic M, Zheng S . Circulating tumor cell enrichment based on physical properties. J Lab Autom. 2013; 18(6):455-68. PMC: 3830628. DOI: 10.1177/2211068213494391. View

19.

Huang Q, Wang F, Yuan C, He Z, Rao L, Cai B . Gelatin Nanoparticle-Coated Silicon Beads for Density-Selective Capture and Release of Heterogeneous Circulating Tumor Cells with High Purity. Theranostics. 2018; 8(6):1624-1635. PMC: 5858171. DOI: 10.7150/thno.23531. View

20.

Cayrefourcq L, Mazard T, Joosse S, Solassol J, Ramos J, Assenat E . Establishment and characterization of a cell line from human circulating colon cancer cells. Cancer Res. 2015; 75(5):892-901. DOI: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-14-2613. View