eISSN: 1897-4309
ISSN: 1428-2526
Contemporary Oncology/Współczesna Onkologia
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SCImago Journal & Country Rank
3/2023
vol. 27
 
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abstract:
Review paper

Circulating tumor cells in colorectal cancer – a review of detection methods and clinical relevance

Salma Saadi
1
,
Meryem Aarab
1
,
Imane Tabyaoui
1
,
Nadia Tahiri Jouti
1

  1. Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Inflammatory, Degenerative and Oncologic Pathophysiology – Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy of Casablanca Hassan II University, Casablanca, Morocco
Contemp Oncol (Pozn) 2023; 27 (3): 123–131
Online publish date: 2023/12/21
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Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer; it is one of the leading malignancies contributing to cancer mortality. Colorectal cancer is the third most diagnosed cancer in men and the second in women worldwide. Diagnosis of CRC depends on several clinical features such as age, primary site, tumor-node-metastasis stage, genetic parameters and the presence or absence of metastasis. The latter is a phenomenon that is induced by the shedding of tumor cells in the blood circulation by the primary tumor. Such cells are known as circulating tumor cells (CTCs). The detection of CTCs is quite challenging due to their scarceness; thus it requires their enrichment and characterization. Studying the utility of CTCs in the diagnosis of CRC has been the aim of several studies; they demonstrated that ≥ 3 CTCs in 7.5 ml of blood is correlated with a worse prognosis and short progression-free and overall survival. Circulating tumor cells have also been monitored to study treatment response and predict future relapses. The present review aims to bring to light the different techniques used to detect and characterize these malignant cells in the peripheral blood of cancer patients as well as the clinical relevance of CTCs in CRC patients.
keywords:

colorectal cancer, circulating tumor cells, clinical interest, isolation and characterization techniques

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