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Disease

Neoplastic Cells, Circulating

Clinical development underwayActively researchedRising momentum
38
Publications
1
Clinical trials
9
Related conditions
2025
Latest publication
Latest activity
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Recent clinical, regulatory, research and industry developments relating to this disease.

Liquid Biopsy: The Challenges of a Revolutionary Approach in Oncology.

Research2025-05-23International journal of molecular sciences

Natural killer cells: the immune frontline against circulating tumor cells.

Research2025-04-10Journal of experimental & clinical cancer research : CR

Breaking boundaries: role of the brain barriers in metastatic process.

Research2025-01-08Fluids and barriers of the CNS

Liquid biopsy in cancer current: status, challenges and future prospects.

Research2024-12-02Signal transduction and targeted therapy

Multi-stage mechanisms of tumor metastasis and therapeutic strategies.

Research2024-10-11Signal transduction and targeted therapy

Circulating tumor cells: from new biological insights to clinical practice.

Research2024-09-02Signal transduction and targeted therapy

Liquid Biopsy in the Clinical Management of Cancers.

Research2024-08-06International journal of molecular sciences

What's happening now

An analyst briefing on current research, clinical, regulatory and industry activity surrounding this disease.

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Clinical trials

0 sponsors · 0 new · 0 completed in the last 12 months (net +0)

The current development programme across all trial phases.

Clinical programme
1
All trials
0
Active
0
Late-stage
0
Completed

Research activity

38 papers

Key research shaping understanding of this disease, combining the latest publications with the most influential evidence.

Publications over time
20042025
Most influential

Circulating tumor cells, disease progression, and survival in metastatic breast cancer.

The New England journal of medicine · 2004 · 3,218 cites

Relationship of circulating tumor cells to tumor response, progression-free survival, and overall survival in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer.

Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology · 2008 · 1,385 cites

Circulating tumor cells: a novel prognostic factor for newly diagnosed metastatic breast cancer.

Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology · 2005 · 777 cites

Circulating tumor cells: biology and clinical significance.

Signal transduction and targeted therapy · 2021 · 655 cites

Liquid biopsy: current technology and clinical applications.

Journal of hematology & oncology · 2022 · 576 cites
Recent publications

Natural killer cells: the immune frontline against circulating tumor cells.

Journal of experimental & clinical cancer research : CR · 2025 · 22 cites

Breaking boundaries: role of the brain barriers in metastatic process.

Fluids and barriers of the CNS · 2025 · 17 cites

Liquid Biopsy: The Challenges of a Revolutionary Approach in Oncology.

International journal of molecular sciences · 2025 · 6 cites

Liquid biopsy in cancer current: status, challenges and future prospects.

Signal transduction and targeted therapy · 2024 · 340 cites

Liquid biopsy techniques and lung cancer: diagnosis, monitoring and evaluation.

Journal of experimental & clinical cancer research : CR · 2024 · 92 cites
Major themes8
  • Neoplastic Cells, Circulating25
  • Neoplasms7
  • Biomarkers, Tumor5
  • Circulating Tumor DNA5
  • Breast Neoplasms4
  • Lung Neoplasms3
  • Prostatic Neoplasms3
  • Bone Neoplasms2
Leading journals6
  • Molecular cancer5
  • Signal transduction and targeted therapy5
  • Cells2
  • Clinical chemistry2
  • International journal of molecular sciences2
  • Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology2
Leading researchers8
  • Doyle GV3
  • Hayes DF3
  • Miller MC3
  • Terstappen LW3
  • Alix-Panabières C2
  • Allard WJ2
  • Budd GT2
  • Cristofanilli M2
Affiliations (unnormalised)6
  • National Cancer Institute2
  • The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University2
  • Washington University School of Medicine2
  • Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University1
  • All India Institute of Medical Sciences1
  • Allina Health Cancer Institute1

Related conditions

9 matches

Diseases frequently studied alongside this one. Number shows shared papers.

Disease profile

A grounded synthesis of the condition — overview, causes, mechanism, risk factors and current standard of care.

Overview

Circulating neoplastic cells are tumor cells that have detached from a primary tumor, entered the bloodstream, and are associated with tumors that metastasize. They are discussed in the literature as circulating tumor cells and as part of liquid biopsy approaches for cancer profiling and monitoring.

Causes

The supplied grounding does not support a specific cause or aetiology beyond their association with metastasizing tumors. They are described as cells shed from the primary tumor into the blood.

Pathophysiology

These cells are part of the metastatic cascade, in which tumor cells slough off from the primary lesion, extravasate, and circulate in blood. The literature links their biology to epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, tumor microenvironment influences, and genetic and epigenetic mechanisms, with interest in their metabolism and immunology as well.

Risk factors

The grounding does not provide specific risk factors for developing circulating neoplastic cells. Their presence is associated with cancers that are metastasizing.

Current standard of care

The literature describes detection and analysis of circulating tumor cells as part of liquid biopsy rather than a treatment. Liquid biopsy is used for cancer molecular profiling, diagnosis, prognosis, monitoring of recurrence or treatment response, and assessment of therapeutic resistance, but no specific therapeutic modality is supported in the grounding for this entity.

AI-generated summary grounded in MeSH and 6 peer-reviewed sources. Informational only — not medical advice. Generated 2026-07-07.

Reference

Authoritative identity, definition & identifiers.

Defined in MeSH

Exfoliate neoplastic cells circulating in the blood and associated with metastasizing tumors.

References & data sources
  • Disease identity & definition — NLM Medical Subject Headings (MeSH), public domain
  • Clinical trials — ClinicalTrials.gov (U.S. National Library of Medicine)
  • Research activity — Europe PMC (EMBL-EBI) + OpenAlex-derived paper links
  • Related entities are derived from literature co-mention (studied together) — associative, not causal.