New prospect for study on small cell lung cancer: Implication of clinical application of circulating tumor cells / 肿瘤

ABSTRACT

In consideration of a few patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC) receiving surgery, it is difficult to obtain tumor samples, extremely restricting biomarker research by SCLC tissue samples. With the development of precise measurement techniques, liquid biopsy brings hope for SCLC biomarker research. As an alternative tumor tissue, circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are found frequently and abundant in peripheral blood of patients with SCLC. Related CTCs studies which conducted in patients with SCLC in recent years have found that CTCs have great significance in diagnosis and staging of SCLC, recurrence and metastasis monitoring, evaluation of therapeutic effect and prognosis, and individualized treatment. This paper reviews the detection and clinical application of CTCs in SCLC and explores its implication in individualized treatment strategy for SCLC.