A conduit to metastasis: circulating tumor cell biology
- 1Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, Massachusetts, 02129, USA;
- 2Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, Massachusetts 02129, USA;
- 3Department of Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, Massachusetts 02129, USA;
- 4Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Chevy Chase, Maryland 20815, USA
- Corresponding author: dhaber{at}mgh.harvard.edu
Abstract
Advances in the enrichment and analysis of rare cells from the bloodstream have allowed for detection and characterization of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from patients with cancer. The analysis of CTCs has provided significant insight into the metastatic process. Studies on the biology of CTCs have begun to elucidate the molecular mechanisms of CTC generation, intravasation, survival, interactions with components of the blood, extravasation, and colonization of distant organs. Additionally, the study of CTCs has exposed dramatic intrapatient and interpatient heterogeneity and their evolution over time. In this review, we focus on the current knowledge of CTC biology and the potential clinical implications.
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Article is online at http://www.genesdev.org/cgi/doi/10.1101/gad.305805.117.
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