Circulating tumor cell: Knowledge and Concept FAQ

Circulating tumor cell: Knowledge and Concept FAQ

Circulating tumor cell: Knowledge and Concept FAQ.  CTC concept FAQ Q1: What is CTC (Circulating tumor cell) CTC gDNA? A: CTC, or circulating tumor cells, refers to tumor cells that break away from solid tumors and enter the peripheral blood circulation.

CTC Concept FAQ

Q1: What is CTC (Circulating tumor cell) CTC gDNA?

A: CTC, or circulating tumor cells, refers to tumor cells that break away from solid tumors and enter the peripheral blood circulation. It is worth noting that CTC, which is usually used in clinical examinations, specifically refers to cells that are still viable at the time of detection.

Q2: What is CTC gDNA?

A: CTC gDNA refers to the genomic DNA of CTC.

Q3: What are the characteristics of CTC?

A: Compared with blood cells in the peripheral blood circulation system, CTC has some unique characteristics, mainly divided into three aspects: 1. Physical characteristics: such as CTC size, hydrodynamic characteristics, cell surface charge, etc.;

2. Biological characteristics: mainly refers to the expression of antigens on the surface of CTC membranes, such as EpCAM, CK18, and CK19, followed by cell functions, such as cell viability and invasion ability;

3. Genetic characteristics: Refers to the karyotype, chromosome abnormal structure and gene mutation information carried by the genetic material of CTC.

Q4: How many CTCs are there?

A: Most of the peripheral blood is normal blood cells, including red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets, etc. The number of CTC depends on the tumor type, tumor development stage and CTC detection method. But overall, compared with blood cells, the content of CTC is close to a trace amount, about 1-10 per 10 ml of peripheral blood. In the same volume of blood, white blood cells can reach 10E7-10E8.

Q5: What is the fate of CTC in the blood?

A: Most of the tumor cells that enter the circulatory system will undergo apoptosis, and the surviving cells are no more than 0.1% of the total released. There are two main reasons for their deaths:

On the one hand, anoikis (specifically refers to apoptosis caused by detachment from cell-cell, cell-matrix contact);

On the other hand, it is recognized and killed by cells of the immune system.

Q6: What type of tumor will release CTC?

A: Both the primary tumor and metastasis will release CTC. Even early or small tumors can release CTC. Because the detectable CTC is the result of tumor cell survival and competition in the microenvironment of the circulatory system, its quantity depends on the nature of CTC itself, and this nature depends on its genetic variation characteristics-this specific inheritance The appearance of variant characteristics does not depend on the overall characteristics of the tumor.

Q7: What is the function of CTC in tumor progression?

A: It has been confirmed in some tumor types (such as breast cancer) that CTC may be involved in tumor metastasis in tumor progression. Some studies have also shown that some CTCs have the characteristics of “tumor stem cells”, that is, they have a strong ability to form tumors, and can completely reconstruct all cell types and characteristics of the original tumor in which they are located.

(source:internet, reference only)

Disclaimer of medicaltrend.org