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Updated: Nov 27, 2025

Adaptation of Semiautomated Circulating Tumor Cell CTC Assays for Clinical and Preclinical Research Applications
Published on: February 28, 2014
Mesenchymal Characteristics and Predictive Biomarkers on Circulating Tumor Cells for Therapeutic Strategy
Takahiro Okabe1, Shinsaku Togo2,3, Yuichi Fujimoto2,3
1Leading Center for the Development and Research of Cancer Medicine, Juntendo University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-1-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8421, Japan.
Abstract:
Metastasis-related events are the primary cause of cancer-related deaths, and circulating tumor cells (CTCs) have a pivotal role in metastatic relapse. CTCs include a variety of subtypes with different functional characteristics. Interestingly, the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) markers expressed in CTCs are strongly associated with poor clinical outcome and related to the acquisition of circulating tumor stem cell (CTSC) features. Recent studies have revealed the existence of CTC clusters, also called circulating tumor microemboli (CTM), which have a high metastatic potential. In this review, we present current opinions regarding the clinical significance of CTCs and CTM with a mesenchymal phenotype as clinical surrogate markers, and we summarize the therapeutic strategy according to phenotype characterization of CTCs in various types of cancers for future precision medicine.
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