Current Research in Circulating Tumor Cells

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are a rare subset of cells identified in the blood of patients having solid tumor. It serves as a seed for metastases. Cancer cells generally metastasize in two ways in the bloodstream, through single migratory CTCs or multicellular groupings. They imitate tumor properties and sustain tumor heterogeneity. They are also potentially useful as preclinical models, clinical biomarkers, and therapeutic targets. Furthermore, they have a potential clinical use as a component of liquid biopsy, where they can be used for early diagnosis, prognosis prediction, disease monitoring, molecular phenotyping and assessing therapy response. CTCs are also suitable for developing preclinical models, particularly 3D organoid cultures that might be used in tumor immunity, disease modelling, organoid biobanks, drug screening and genome editing. This book explores the status of current research on circulating tumor cells. Those in search of information to further their knowledge will be greatly assisted by it.