Circulating tumor cells as a tool for assessing tumor heterogeneity

Marta Tellez-Gabriel (1) , Marie-Françoise Heymann (2, 3, 4) , Dominique Heymann (3, 4, 2)

1 Department of Medical Biology - RNA and molecular pathology research group - RAMP [Tromso, Norway]
2 LabCT - Laboratoire de Biologie des Cancers et de Théranostic [St Herblain, Nantes]
3 CRCINA - Centre de Recherche en Cancérologie et Immunologie Nantes-Angers
4 Sarcoma Research Unit - European Associated Laboratory [Sheffield, UK]

Tumor heterogeneity is the major cause of failure in cancer prognosis and prediction. Accurately detecting heterogeneity for the development of biomarkers and the detection of the clones resistant to therapy is one of the main goals of contemporary medicine. Metastases belong to the natural history of cancer. The present review gives an overview on the origin of tumor heterogeneity. Recent progress has made it possible to isolate and characterize circulating tumor cells (CTCs), which are the drivers of the disease between the primary sites and metastatic foci. The most recent methods for characterizing CTCs are summarized and we discuss the power of CTC profiling for analyzing tumor heterogeneity in early and advanced diseases.

Keywords: single cell; circulating tumor cell; precision medicine; tumor heterogeneity; omic technologies

Domains: Rhumatology and musculoskeletal system; Pediatrics; Endocrinology and metabolism; Cancer

Marta Tellez-Gabriel, Marie-Françoise Heymann, Dominique Heymann. Circulating tumor cells as a tool for assessing tumor heterogeneity. Theranostics, In press, Epub ahead of print. ⟨inserm-02110266⟩