Open AccessClinical Relevance of Disseminated Tumor Cells in the Bone Marrow and Circulating Tumor Cells in the Blood of Breast Cancer Patients
Author(s) -
Volkmar Müller,
Tanja Fehm,
Wolfgang Janni,
Gerhard Gebauer,
Erich Solomayer,
Klaus Pantel
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
breast care
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.767
H-Index - 30
eISSN - 1661-3805
pISSN - 1661-3791
DOI - 10.1159/000235888
Subject(s) - medicine , circulating tumor cell , breast cancer , bone marrow , oncology , cancer , tumor cells , gynecology , cancer research , metastasis
Subclinical tumor cell spread, as the putative precursor stage of subsequent solid metastases, can be assessed in breast patients via the detection of disseminated tumor cells (DTC) in bone marrow aspirates or circulating tumor cells (CTC) in the peripheral blood with immunocytochemical and molecular techniques. In the context of a growing number of treatment strategies for cancer patients in the adjuvant setting as well as in the metastatic situation, markers predicting therapy efficacy are urgently needed. The detection of DTC or CTC may become one of the most interesting parameters not just for the prediction of survival or therapy monitoring but also for the characterization and specific targeting of residual tumor cells. Progress in this field now permits clinical studies that should lead to improvements in the treatment of breast cancer patients.