Clinical Implications and Future Perspectives of Circulating Tumor Cells and Biomarkers in Clinical Outcomes of Colorectal Cancer

Ming-Yii Huang; Hsiang-Lin Tsai; Joh-Jong Huang; Jaw-Yuan Wang

doi:10.1016/j.tranon.2016.06.006

Clinical Implications and Future Perspectives of Circulating Tumor Cells and Biomarkers in Clinical Outcomes of Colorectal Cancer

Transl Oncol. 2016 Aug;9(4):340-7. doi: 10.1016/j.tranon.2016.06.006.

Authors

Ming-Yii Huang¹, Hsiang-Lin Tsai², Joh-Jong Huang³, Jaw-Yuan Wang⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Radiation Oncology, Cancer Center, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan; Department of Radiation Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan; Center for Biomarkers and Biotech Drugs, Graduate Institute of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan.
² Division of General Surgery Medicine, Department of Surgery, Kaohsiung Medical University, Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan; Division of Gastroenterology and General Surgery, Department of Surgery, Kaohsiung Medical University, Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan.
³ Department of Family Medicine and Department of Community Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan. Electronic address: jjhua511227@gmail.com.
⁴ Center for Biomarkers and Biotech Drugs, Graduate Institute of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan; Division of Gastroenterology and General Surgery, Department of Surgery, Kaohsiung Medical University, Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan; Graduate Institute of Clinical Medicine, Department of Surgery, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan. Electronic address: cy612112@ms14.hinet.net.

Abstract

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a major public health problem. Early CRC detection, pretherapeutic responsiveness prediction, and postoperative micrometastasis monitoring are the hallmarks for successful CRC treatment. Here, the methodologies used for detecting circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from CRC are reviewed. In addition to the traditional CRC biomarkers, the persistent presence of posttherapeutic CTCs indicates resistance to adjuvant chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy; hence, CTCs also play a decisive role in the subsequent relapse of CRC. Moreover, the genetic and phenotypic profiling of CTCs often differs from that of the primary tumor; this difference can be used to select the most effective targeted therapy. Consequently, studying CTCs can potentially individualize treatment strategies for patients with CRC. Therefore, CTC detection and characterization may be valuable tools for refining prognosis, and CTCs can be used in a real-time tumor biopsy for designing individually tailored therapy against CRC.

Publication types

Review