ArticleOncotarget2016
Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition leads to loss of EpCAM and different physical properties in circulating tumor cells from metastatic breast cancer.
Article in Oncotarget, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 175 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
175 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 282 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Predictive Role of ctDNA and CTCs in Patients with Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Receiving Immunotherapy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Pooled it
- Trial
- Analysis of circulating tumour cell and the epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT) status during eribulin-based treatment in 22 patients with metastatic breast cancer: a pilot study.Journal of translational medicine · 2018Trial
- Towards liquid biopsy-based analysis of antitumour immunity.Nature reviews. Clinical oncology · 2026Review
- Liquid biopsy in bladder cancer: towards precision oncology.Journal of translational medicine · 2026Review
- Circulating tumour cells for guiding antibody‒drug conjugate therapy: Role of artificial intelligence.Clinical and translational medicine · 2026Review
- A novel imaging-based approach for large extracellular vesicle detection and prognostic stratification in metastatic breast cancer.The journal of liquid biopsy · 2026Article
- Identification of epithelial, mesenchymal, and platelet-associated circulating tumour cells with translational implications in oral squamous cell carcinoma.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Robotic Centrifugal Microfluidics with In-Rotation Liquid Supply for the Extraction of Multiple Liquid Biopsy Analytes in One Platform.Biosensors · 2026Article
- EpCAM as a novel target of MARCH8: implications for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma progression.Journal of molecular histology · 2026Article
- Circular RNAs: key regulators in cancer stem cell dynamics.Molecular genetics and genomics : MGG · 2026Review
- Novel Liquid Biopsy in Gastrointestinal Cancers.Journal of gastroenterology and hepatology · 2026Review
- Isolation and typing techniques for circulating tumor cells.Biomarker research · 2026Review
- MagSculptor: A Microfluidic Platform for High-Resolution Magnetic Fractionation of Low-Expression Cell Subtypes.Biosensors · 2026Article
- Article
- EpCAM silencing suppresses aggressive phenotypes and induces partial redifferentiation in anaplastic thyroid cancer cells.PloS one · 2026Article
- A fixation-compatible protocol for intracellular and surface marker-based detection of circulating tumor cells in hepatocellular carcinoma.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Novel Strategy for Acquiring Metabolically-Tagged Nascent Extracellular Vesicles: Implications for Identifying Surface Protein Markers of Extracellular Vesicles From Neuroblastoma Cells Cultured With Native Serum.Journal of extracellular vesicles · 2025Article
- Review
- Circulating tumour DNA and circulating tumour cells in bladder cancer - from discovery to clinical implementation.Nature reviews. Urology · 2025Review
115 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The dissemination of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) requires the Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal transition (EMT), in which cells lose their epithelial characteristics and acquire more mesenchymal-like phenotypes. Current isolation of CTCs relies on affinity-based approaches reliant on the expression of Epithelial Cell Adhesion Molecule (EpCAM). Here we show EMT-induced breast cancer cells maintained in prolonged mammosphere culture conditions possess increased EMT markers and cancer stem cell markers, as well as reduced cell mass and size by quantitative phase microscopy; however, EpCAM expression is dramatically decreased in these cells. Moreover, CTCs isolated from breast cancer patients using a label-free microfluidic flow fractionation device had differing expression patterns of EpCAM, indicating that affinity approaches reliant on EpCAM expression may underestimate CTC number and potentially miss critical subpopulations. Further characterization of CTCs, including low-EpCAM populations, using this technology may improve detection techniques and cancer diagnosis, ultimately improving cancer treatment.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.