Detection Methods and Clinical Applications of Circulating Tumor Cells in Breast Cancer.

Circulating Tumor Cells (CTCs) are cancer cells that split away from the primary tumor and appear in the circulatory system as singular units or clusters, which was first reported by Dr. Thomas Ashworth in 1869. CTCs migrate and implantation occurs at a new site, in a process commonly known as tumor metastasis. In the case of breast cancer, the tumor cells often migrate into locations such as the lungs, brain, and bones, even during the early stages, and this is a notable characteristic of breast cancer. Survival rates have increased significantly over the past few decades because of progress made in radiology and tissue biopsy, making early detection and diagnosis of breast cancer possible. However, liquid biopsy, particularly that involving the collection of CTCs, is a non-invasive method to detect tumor cells in the circulatory system, which can be easily isolated from human plasma, serum, and other body fluids. Compared to traditional tissue biopsies, fluid sample collection has the advantages of being readily available and more acceptable to the patient. It can also detect tumor cells in blood earlier and in smaller numbers, possibly allowing for diagnosis prior to any tumor detection using imaging methods. Because of the scarcity of CTCs circulating in blood vessels (only a few CTCs among billions of erythrocytes and leukocytes), thorough but accurate detection methods are particularly important for further clinical applications.

Anthracycline-induced cardiotoxicity in the chemotherapy treatment of breast cancer: Preventive strategies and treatment.

Anthracyclines are highly effective chemotherapeutic agents, used for a wide variety of malignancies. Cardiotoxicity is a well-recognized side effect of anthracycline therapy that limits the total amount of drug administered and can cause heart failure in some patients. Most experimental data support oxidative stress as the etiology of anthracycline-induced cardiotoxicity. The objective of this paper was to provide a review of the clinical classification, risk factors, monitoring and prevention of anthracycline-induced cardiotoxicity in patients with breast cancer.

Prognostic role of Tif1γ expression and circulating tumor cells in patients with breast cancer.

Transcription intermediary factor 1γ (Tif1γ), a ubiquitous nuclear protein, is a regulator of transforming growth factor­ß (TGF­ß)/Smad signaling. Tif1γ can function as an oncogene and as a tumor suppressor. In the present study, Tif1γ levels were measured in the plasma of patients with breast cancer in order to investigate the association of Tif1γ with overall survival (OS). The results indicated that Tif1γ is an independent prognostic and predictive factor in breast cancer, and thus, a promising target protein for use in diagnostics and patient follow­up. Plasma levels of Tif1γ were measured in samples obtained from 110 patients with operable breast cancer and in 110 healthy volunteers at the Breast Cancer Department of Yangpu Hospital between 2008 and 2016. The association between Tif1γ levels and clinicopathologic parameters, and the OS in a follow­up period of 98 months was evaluated. The prognostic significance was assessed using the Kaplan­Meier method. The levels of Tif1γ were significantly lower in patients with breast cancer compared with healthy controls. The average concentration of 18.40 ng/ml was used to discriminate between Tif1γ­positive (52) and Tif1γ­negative patients (58). Tif1γ­positive patients had a significantly improved OS compared with Tif1γ­negative patients. In the multivariate analysis, Tif1γ was an independent predictor of a favorable OS in a prospective follow­up setting; thus, Tif1γ plasma levels are an independent prognostic factor for patients with breast cancer. These findings support the potential of using measurements of Tif1γ plasma levels to guide breast cancer therapy and monitoring. Further studies are required to validate Tif1γ as an easily detectable, non­invasive prognostic biomarker for breast cancer.

Application of Circulation Tumor Cells Detection in Diagnosis and Treatment of Breast Tumors.

In recent years, the clinical application of circulating tumor cell (CTCs) detection has become one of the research hotspots in the field of precision medicine. CTCs detection is noninvasive, easy to obtain, can be repeatedly collected, and highly repeatable with other advantages. It not only can be a real-time comprehensive monitoring of cancer treatment but also can have a large number of applications, including early diagnosis of tumor, timely evaluation of efficacy, condition monitoring, resistance factor analysis, prognosis judgment, individualized treatment of tumors, drug guidance, and so on. At present, many large-scale clinical studies at home and abroad run through all stages of breast cancer diagnosis and treatment. For different treatment stages of breast cancer, the application value of CTCs detection is different. Compared with traditional detection methods, CTCs have advantages in dynamic monitoring of disease changes and efficacy evaluation in real-time. In the era of breast cancer classificational and individualized treatment, CTCs detection can provide patients with the most timely and optimized treatment plan.