Research progress of circulating tumor cells in breast cancer

Abstract

Breast cancer is the most common malignant tumor in female, and the recurrence and metastasis is the leading cause of death. Previous image evaluation of breast cancer could not detect the tumor at its early stage timely. The circulating tumor cells in the peripheral blood are like the seeds buried in the body, which cause the later recurrence and metastasis. So we can detect circulating tumor cells in peripheral blood to evaluate breast cancer progression. In present study, circulating tumor cells can be implied more than three ways in clinical application of breast cancer. They could be used to monitor the therapeutic effect in breast cancer therapy timely, to analyze molecular classification of breast cancer and conduct clinical drug sensitivity tests. Although the value of circulating tumor cells in breast cancer has been widely recognized, many factors limited their application in clinical. Thus, we conduct this review about the current progress of circulating tumor cells in breast cancer. Key words: Neoplastic cells, circulating; Breast neoplasms; Therapeutic uses; Review