Published online Jun 7, 2018. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v24.i21.2236
Peer-review started: April 4, 2018
First decision: April 19, 2018
Revised: April 27, 2018
Accepted: May 18, 2018
Article in press: May 18, 2018
Published online: June 7, 2018
Processing time: 61 Days and 7.5 Hours
Gastric cancer (GC), with its high incidence and mortality rates, is a highly fatal cancer that is common in East Asia particularly in China. Its recurrence and metastasis are the main causes of its poor prognosis. Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) or other blood biomarkers that are released into the circulating blood stream by tumors are thought to play a crucial role in the recurrence and metastasis of gastric cancer. Therefore, the detection of CTCs and other blood biomarkers has an important clinical significance; in fact, they can help predict the prognosis, assess the staging, monitor the therapeutic effects and determine the drug susceptibility. Recent research has identified many blood biomarkers in GC, such as various serum proteins, autoantibodies against tumor associated antigens, and cell-free DNAs. The analysis of CTCs and circulating cell-free tumor DNA (ctDNA) in the peripheral blood of patients with gastric cancer is called as liquid biopsy. These blood biomarkers provide the disease status for individuals and have clinical meaning. In this review, we focus on the recent scientific advances regarding CTCs and other blood biomarkers, and discuss their origins and clinical meaning.
Core tip: As liquid biopsy, the detection of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and other blood biomarkers have their certain clinical significance. In this review, we focus on the recent scientific advances of CTCs and some other blood biomarkers, and discuss their origin and clinical usefulness.