Tumor markers circulating cancer cells

Evaluation of a panel of tumor markers for molecular detection of circulating cancer cells in women with suspected hreast cancer. ClinCancer Res, 11,15. 

However, to utilize this strategy in the clinic, new markers have to be developed to determine whether a patient has dormant disseminated disease. At present, most of the markers inform about the recurrence of the disease (e.g., uPAR, ErbB2) rather than the state of tumor cell dormancy [98]. To achieve this goal it will be important to enhance collaborations between basic research and clinical labs to test the markers of dormancy identified in experimental models in samples from bone marrow, lymph nodes, and circulating tumor cells (CTCs) [98]. These will be important for staging of cancer and for developing novel therapeutic targets. 

The most common tumor-on-a-chip platforms are the cancer marker detecting devices. Usually, the microfluidics devices with specially design channel structures can collect circulating tumor cells [49, 77-79]. Nanoparticle screening platforms to create a microenvironment that mimics tumor tissues and nearby vessels were also used [28] in drug screening and delivery systems. A tumor-on-a-chip... 

Catarino R, Ferreira MM, Rodrigues Ff et al. (2008) Quantification of free circulating tumor DNA as a diagnostic marker for breast cancer. DNA Cell Biol 27 415-421 Chan HP, Lewis C, Thomas PS (2008) Exhaled breath analysis novel approach for early detection of lung cancer. Lung Cancer epub... 

---