Challenges in circulating tumour cell research

• Published in: Nature reviews. Cancer Vol. 14; no. 9; pp. 623 - 631
• Main Authors: Alix-Panabières, Catherine, Pantel, Klaus
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 01.09.2014; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 631/67/1857; 631/67/322; Biomarkers, Tumor - analysis; Biomedicine; Blood cells; Breast cancer; Cancer Research; Development and progression; Humans; Neoplasm Proteins - analysis; Neoplastic Cells, Circulating; opinion-2; Patient outcomes; Physiological aspects; Stem cells; Tumors; United States

Circulating tumour cells (CTCs) are the subject of many published papers, but the diversity of assays used for their analysis can be daunting. This Opinion article discusses issues regarding the detection and characterization of CTCs, and poses the major outstanding questions in this field. During t...