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Nakamura et al. J Cancer Metastasis Treat 2018;4:32 Journal of Cancer
DOI: 10.20517/2394-4722.2017.78 Metastasis and Treatment

Review Open Access

Circulating tumor cells in gastric cancer

Kenichi Nakamura , Masaaki Iwatsuki , Junji Kurashige , Takatsugu Ishimoto , Yoshifumi Baba , Yuji
1,2
2
2
2
2
Miyamoto , Naoya Yoshida , Masayuki Watanabe , Hideo Baba 2
3
2
2
1 Division of Gastric Surgery, Shizuoka Cancer Center, Shizuoka 411-8777, Japan.
2 Department of Gastroenterological Surgery, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto
860-8556, Japan.
3 Esophageal Cancer Division, Gastroenterological Surgery, Cancer Institute Hospital of Japanese Foundation for Cancer
Research, Tokyo 135-8550, Japan.
Correspondence to: Dr. Hideo Baba, Department of Gastroenterological Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine, Kumamoto
University, 1-1-1 Honjo, Chuo-ku, Kumamoto 860-8556, Japan. E-mail: hdobaba@kumamoto-u.ac.jp
How to cite this article: Nakamura K, Iwatsuki M, Kurashige J, Ishimoto T, Baba Y, Miyamoto Y, Yoshida N, Watanabe M, Baba H.
Circulating tumor cells in gastric cancer. J Cancer Metastasis Treat 2018;4:32. http://dx.doi.org/10.20517/2394-4722.2017.78
Received: 21 Nov 2017 First Decision: 10 Feb 2018 Revised: 15 Feb 2018 Accepted: 6 Jun 2018 Published: 5 Jul 2018
Science Editors: Lucio Miele, Masayuki Watanabe Copy Editor: Jun-Yao Li Production Editor: Huan-Liang Wu

Abstract
Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) have received a lot of attention as a novel biomarker for cancer research in past decades.
CTCs infiltrate the bloodstream derived from the primary tumor, and are significantly involved in cancer metastasis and
recurrence. Although clinical applications have been challenging owing to the difficulties of CTC identification, recent
development of technology for specific enrichment and detection of CTCs contributes to diagnosis and treatment.
Furthermore, CTC analyses will shed new light on the biological mechanisms of cancer progression and metastasis. A
number of clinical studies have already been carried out on the basis of CTC technology. Nevertheless, the clinical utility
of CTCs is still unknown in gastric cancer. In this review, we elaborate on the latest advances of CTC research in gastric
cancer.

Keywords: Circulating tumor cells, gastric cancer, cancer progression and metastasis, tumor heterogeneity, epithelial
mesenchymal transition, cancer stem cells, immune check point blockade

INTRODUCTION
[1]
Gastric cancer is the sixth most common cancer and the third leading cause of cancer death worldwide .
Although diagnostic and therapeutic modalities for gastric cancer have been developed, it remains difficult
to treat and manage patients with gastric cancer owing to the high frequency of metastasis and recurrence
even after curative resection. Thus, to improve prognosis of gastric cancer, it is crucial to understand the
process of metastasis and recurrence.

© The Author(s) 2018. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use,
sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, for any purpose, even commercially, as long
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