Trial reportJournal of the National Cancer Institute2019
Presence of Circulating Tumor Cells in High-Risk Early Breast Cancer During Follow-Up and Prognosis.
Trial report in Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 77 papers, 3 of them syntheses 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
77 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 137 citations in OpenAlex.
- Circulating Tumor DNA and Circulating Tumor Cells in Liquid Biopsy as Post-Treatment Prognostic Biomarkers in Early Breast Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Pooled it
- Circulating Tumor Cell Detection for Therapeutic and Prognostic Roles in Breast Cancer.Cancer medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Prognostic value of epithelial-mesenchymal transition circulating tumor cells in female breast cancer: A meta-analysis.Frontiers in oncology · 2022Pooled it
- Circulating Tumor Cells in Soft Tissue Sarcoma: Current Evidence and Clinical Implications.Cancers · 2026Review
- PD-L1-positive circulating tumor cells associate with tumor malignancy and impaired circulating immunity in patients with gastrointestinal tumors.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Breast cancer stem cells and circulating tumor cells: Dual drivers of progression and relapse.World journal of stem cells · 2025Review
- Cancer and Aging Biomarkers: Classification, Early Detection Technologies and Emerging Research Trends.Biosensors · 2025Review
- Liquid biopsy in breast cancer: Redefining precision medicine.The journal of liquid biopsy · 2025Review
- Circulating tumor cells: Blood-based detection, molecular biology, and clinical applications.Cancer cell · 2025Review
- Deciphering Breast Tumor Heterogeneity Through Patient-Derived Organoids and Circulating Tumor Cells.Journal of personalized medicine · 2025Review
- Dual ENPP1/ATM depletion blunts DNA damage repair boosting radioimmune efficacy to abrogate triple-negative breast cancer.Signal transduction and targeted therapy · 2025Article
- Targeting capture and eradicate circulating tumor cells by activated platelet derived vehicle for inhibiting triple-negative breast cancer metastasis.Materials today. Bio · 2025Article
- Detection, significance and potential utility of circulating tumor cells in clinical practice in breast cancer (Review).Oncology letters · 2025Review
- Article
- The development and applications of circulating tumour cells, circulating tumour DNA and other emerging biomarkers for early cancer detection.Exploration of targeted anti-tumor therapy · 2025Review
- Circulating tumor cells in breast cancer: clinical validity and utility.NPJ breast cancer · 2024Review
- The new advance of exosome-based liquid biopsy for cancer diagnosis.Journal of nanobiotechnology · 2024Review
- Knowledge-map and research trends of circulating tumor cells in breast cancer: a scientometric analysis.Discover oncology · 2024Article
- Clinical applications of circulating tumor cells in patients with solid tumors.Clinical & experimental metastasis · 2024Review
- Searching for the "Holy Grail" of breast cancer recurrence risk: a narrative review of the hunt for a better biomarker and the promise of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA).Breast cancer research and treatment · 2024Review
17 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
21 authors at 6 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe prognostic relevance of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) at the time of primary diagnosis has been well established. However, little information is available regarding their prognostic relevance to follow-up care.
methodsThe multicenter, open-label, phase III SUCCESS A trial compared two adjuvant chemotherapy regimens followed by 2 vs 5 years of zoledronate for early-stage, high-risk breast cancer patients. The presence of CTCs was assessed before and 2 years after chemotherapy using the FDA-approved CellSearch System. Overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) were analyzed using univariate log-rank tests and multivariable Cox regressions. OS and DFS were measured starting from an assessment of CTCs 2 years after the completion of chemotherapy. All statistical tests were two-sided.
resultsThe sample included 1087 patients who participated in the translational research program of the SUCCESS A trial and for whom sufficient translational data were available regarding CTC status at baseline and at the 2-year follow-up visit. Two years after chemotherapy, 198 (18.2%) patients were CTC-positive. The median follow-up after this timepoint was 37 months. Cox regressions that included CTC status at baseline revealed that CTC status 2 years after chemotherapy had statistically significant and independent prognostic relevance for OS (hazard ratio [HR] = 3.91, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 2.04 to 7.52, P < .001) and DFS (HR = 2.31, 95% CI = 1.50 to 3.55, P < .001).
conclusionThe presence of CTCs 2 years after chemotherapy was associated with decreased OS and DFS. Based on these results, active individualized surveillance strategies for breast cancer survivors based on biomarkers should be reconsidered.
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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.