Minimal Residual Disease and Circulating Tumor Cells in Breast Cancer (Recent Results in Cancer Research Book 195)

Annotation This important book provides up-to-date information on a series of topical issues relating to the approach to minimal residual disease in breast cancer patients. It first explains how the study of minimal residual disease and circulating and disseminated tumor cells (CTCs/DTCs) can assist in the understanding of breast cancer metastasis. A series of chapters then discuss the various technologies available for the detection and characterization of CTCs and DTCs, pinpointing their merits and limitations. Detailed consideration is given to the relevance of CTCs and DTCs, and their detection, to clinical research and practice. The role of other blood-based biomarkers is also addressed, and the closing chapters debate the challenges facing drug and biomarker co-development and the use of CTCs for companion diagnostic development. This book will be of interest and assistance to all who are engaged in the modern management of breast cancer Front Matter....Pages i-xiv Front Matter....Pages 1-1 Minimal Residual Disease and Circulating Tumor Cells in Breast Cancer: Open Questions for Research....Pages 3-9 Front Matter....Pages 11-11 Self-Seeding in Cancer....Pages 13-23 Microenvironments Dictating Tumor Cell Dormancy....Pages 25-39 Front Matter....Pages 41-41 Immunomagnetic Separation Technologies....Pages 43-58 Microfluidic Technologies....Pages 59-67 EPISPOT Assay: Detection of Viable DTCs/CTCs in Solid Tumor Patients....Pages 69-76 Advances in Optical Technologies for Rare Cell Detection and Characterization....Pages 77-85 Size-Based Enrichment Technologies for CTC Detection and Characterization....Pages 87-95 Emerging Technologies for CTC Detection Based on Depletion of Normal Cells....Pages 97-110 Molecular Assays for the Detection and Characterization of CTCs....Pages 111-123 Multiplex Molecular Analysis of CTCs....Pages 125-140 Front Matter....Pages 141-141 Circulating DNA and Next-Generation Sequencing....Pages 143-149 Circulating MicroRNAs as Noninvasive Biomarkers in Breast Cancer....Pages 151-161 Circulating Endothelial Cells and Circulating Endothelial Progenitors....Pages 163-170 Front Matter....Pages 171-171 DTCs in Breast Cancer: Clinical Research and Practice....Pages 173-178 CTCs in Primary Breast Cancer (I)....Pages 179-185 CTCs in Primary Breast Cancer (II)....Pages 187-192 CTCs in Metastatic Breast Cancer....Pages 193-201 HER2-Positive DTCs/CTCs in Breast Cancer....Pages 203-215 DTCs/CTCs in Breast Cancer: Five Decades Later....Pages 217-225 Front Matter....Pages 227-227 Challenges in Drug and Biomarker Co-Development....Pages 229-239 Challenges and Opportunities in the Use of CTCs for Companion Diagnostic Development....Pages 241-253 Most deaths from carcinomas are caused by the hematogenous dissemination of cancer cells to distant organs and the eventual development of metastases. When found in the bone marrow or peripheral blood of carcinoma patients, occult cancer cells are referred to as disseminated tumor cells (DTCs) or circulating tumor cells (CTCs). CTCs and DTCs are considered surrogates of minimal residual disease, i.e., the presence of malignant cells in distant organs that are undetectable by conventional imaging and laboratory tests used for tumor staging after curative surgery of the primary tumor. In this book, leading investigators in the field provide up-to-date information on a series of important questions, including: - How can the study of minimal residual disease and CTCs help us to better understand breast cancer metastasis? - What technologies are available for the detection and characterization of CTCs and DTCs, and what are their relative merits? - How are DTCs and CTCs relevant to clinical research and practice? - What is the role of other blood-based biomarkers such as circulating endothelial cells and circulating nucleic acids? - What are the challenges in drug and biomarker co-development and the use of CTCs for companion diagnostic development? This book will be of interest and assistance to all who are engaged in the modern management of breast cancer