Abstract
Colorectal cancer is one of the most frequently diagnosed malignancies in both men and women. Although curative resection is the major treatment option, approximately half of all patients eventually develop distant metastases. Thus, the need for early detection of occult metastases has led to extensive investigation with regard to the detection of disseminated tumor cells in biological fluids, including peripheral blood or bone marrow of cancer patients. In this review, we summarize the methods currently implemented for disseminated tumor cell detection in colorectal cancer. In addition, we discuss the pitfalls of each method and the future perspectives in the development of an easily applied, quick and inexpensive method which will enable the reliable detection of circulating tumor cells with optimal sensitivity and specificity.
- Colorectal cancer
- molecular staging
- circulating tumor cells
- polymerase chain reaction
- peripheral blood
- review
Footnotes
- Received May 19, 2008.
- Revision received July 15, 2008.
- Accepted September 16, 2008.
- Copyright© 2008 International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. John G. Delinassios), All rights reserved