A typical cancerous tumor contains millions or even billions of cells harboring genetic mutations driving them to grow, divide, and invade the local tissue in which they’re embedded. However, as the cells proliferate, they don’t all stay in the neighborhood. Some cells slough off the edges of a tumor and are swept away by the bloodstream or lymphatic system. These so-called circulating tumor ce...

Circulating Tumor Cells (CTC) are shed from primary or secondary tumors. Prior studies have demonstrated that enumeration of CTC is a robust independent prognostic factor of progression free and overall survival in patients with early and metastatic breast cancer. CTC, as well as other circulating tumor markers, have the appealing advantages over tissue biopsy of (1) ease of collection, (2) ser...

Circulating tumor cells in the blood of patients are both signal flares for the existence of a tumor and harbingers of metastasis. With recent technological developments, these cells can be isolated and analyzed to provide insights into the biology of cancer spread and response to therapy and to offer new avenues for blood biomarker development.