Main description:

This volume provides the latest research on circulating tumor cells aimed for cancer researchers, scientists, and molecular oncologists. It presents the basic concepts behind circulating tumor cells (CTCs), metastatic biology, and potential applications as to how CTCs can be used in diagnostic biomarkers.
CTCs are cells that have detached from the primary tumor and circulate in the bloodstream. Such cells may become "seeds" for the growth of additional tumors. The field of analysis surrounding cancer metastasis has been steadily growing, and CTCs provide effective biomarkers that can be examined in peripheral blood through a minimally invasive "liquid biopsy" procedure. CTCs offer several exciting applications, not only as markers of disease progression but also as biomarkers of monitoring response to therapy and companion diagnostics for novel anticancer drug development. In recent years there has been rapid growth and worldwide developments on CTCs, which span both the basic sciences and biomedical engineering fields.

Contents:

Preface.- Foreword.- Section I. Technologies for CTC Identification.- 1. Significance of Studying Circulating Tumor Cells.- 2. Affinity-Based Enrichment of Circulating Tumor Cells.- 3. Size-Based and Non-Affinity Based Microfluidic Devices for Circulating Tumor Cell Enrichment and Characterization.- 4. Molecular Assays for the Detection and Molecular Characterization of CTCs.- 5. Cancer Stem Cells and Circulating Tumor Cells Molecular Markers, Isolation Techniques and Clinical Implications.- Section II. Fundamental Studies of CTC.- 6. Circulating Tumor Cells and Tumor Dormancy.- 7. Prevention of Conversion of Tumor Dormancy into Proliferative Metastases.- 8. Genesis of Circulating Tumor Cells through Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition as a Mechanism for Distant Dissemination.- Section III. CTC Analysis.- 9. CTC Analysis FISH, ISH, Array-CGH and Other Molecular Assays.- 10. Genome-Wide Gene Copy Number Analysis of Circulating Tumor Cells.- 11. Perspectives on the Functional Characterization and In Vitro Maintenance of Circulating Tumor Cells.- 12. Prognostic Implications of CTC in Breast Cancer.- Section IV. Potential Clinical Applications of CTC.- 13. CTC in Advanced Breast Cancer Prognosis, Monitoring and Clinical Utility.- 14. Evolution of Metastatic Disease: The Need for Monitoring and Emerging Therapeutic Opportunities.- 15. CTC for Biomarker and Companion Diagnostic Development.- 16. Perspectives on Clinical Applications of CTCs.- Index.