Circulating Tumour Cells in Prostate Cancer: From Enumeration to Precision Oncology
This Clinical Chemistry review traces the evolution of CTC analysis in prostate cancer from simple enumeration to molecular characterisation for precision medicine. CTC counts carry independent prognostic value in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, and molecular profiling of CTCs can capture intrapatient heterogeneity that tissue biopsies miss. The authors discuss clinical applications spanning detection, treatment selection, response assessment, and resistance monitoring across the prostate cancer disease spectrum.
The original study
Circulating Tumor Cells in Prostate Cancer: From Discovery to Clinical Utility.
- Authors
- Pantel K, Hille C, Scher HI
- Journal
- Clinical chemistry
- Type
- Journal Article, Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't, Review
- PMID
- 30602476
Original abstract
BACKGROUND: Prostate cancer represents the most common non-skin cancer type in men. Unmet needs include understanding prognosis to determine when intervention is needed and what type, prediction to guide the choice of a systemic therapy, and response indicators to determine whether a treatment is working. Over the past decade, the "liquid biopsy," characterized by the analysis of tumor cells and tumor cell products such as cell-free nucleic acids (DNA, microRNA) or extracellular vesicles circulating in the blood of cancer patients, has received considerable attention. CONTENT: Among those biomarkers, circulating tumor cells (CTCs) have been most intensively analyzed in prostate cancer. Here we discuss recent studies on the enumeration and characterization of CTCs in peripheral blood and how this information can be used to develop biomarkers for each of these clinical contexts. We focus on clinical applications in men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, in whom CTCs are more often detected and at higher numbers, and clinical validation for different contexts of use is most mature. SUMMARY: The overall goal of CTC-based liquid biopsy testing is to better inform medical decision-making so that patient outcomes are improved.