Circulating tumor cells are tumor cells that spontaneously or, following operations, migrate into the peripheral blood circulation from the primary tumor or metastatic tumor. As diagnostic, prognostic and predictive biomarkers in many types of cancers including breast cancer, lung cancer, pancreatic cancer and colorectal cancer, circulating tumor cells contribute to the early diagnosis of cancers, drug resistance monitoring, prognostic assessment, survival analysis, detection of tumor recurrence and evaluation of drug efficacy to assist in treatment decision?making and adjustment of treatment plans. However, the current approaches to the detection of circulating tumor cells still have limitations, and the development of new detection methods with higher sensitivity and specificity will be helpful for better use of these cells. Herein the authors review the research progress in circulating tumor cells in terms of the detection techniques, clinical applications of circulating tumor cells, and their prospects in future clinical practice.
循环肿瘤细胞是指自发或因诊疗操作脱离实体瘤原发灶或转移灶而进入外周血循环的肿瘤细胞，其已被研究证实是包括乳腺癌、肺癌、胰腺癌、结直肠癌等在内的多种癌症的诊断和预后标志物，有助于肿瘤的体外早期诊断、耐药性监测，判断预后及生存分析，检测肿瘤复发、评价药物疗效以辅助治疗决策及调整治疗方案。但目前循环肿瘤细胞的检测方法仍存在一定的局限性，研究出具有更高灵敏度和特异性的检测新方法将有助于循环肿瘤细胞在临床上的应用。本文将从循环肿瘤细胞的检测技术、临床应用以及临床应用展望等方面对循环肿瘤细胞检测的研究进展和临床应用作一简述。