ReviewInternational journal of molecular sciences2020
Tumor-Cell-Macrophage Fusion Cells as Liquid Biomarkers and Tumor Enhancers in Cancer.
Review in International journal of molecular sciences, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 58 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
58 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 92 citations in OpenAlex.
- Prognostic Role of CD68British journal of biomedical science · 2023Pooled it
- Exploratory Analyses of Circulating Neoplastic-Immune Hybrid Cells as Prognostic Biomarkers in Advanced Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Trial
- Monitoring PD-L1 Expression on Circulating Tumor-Associated Cells in Recurrent Metastatic Non-Small-Cell Lung Carcinoma Predicts Response to Immunotherapy With Radiation Therapy.JCO precision oncology · 2022Trial
- Multi-omics insights for deciphering prognosis-related T cell subsets in hepatocellular carcinoma.Clinical and translational medicine · 2026Article
- The metabolic plasticity of cancer stem cells: bidirectional crosstalk with organ-resident cells.Experimental & molecular medicine · 2026Review
- The influence of cell-cell fusion on cancer heterogeneity and its promise for targeted treatments.Cellular oncology (Dordrecht, Netherlands) · 2026Review
- Implications of Heterotypic Cell Fusion in Cancer.Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2026Review
- Pathogen-Mediated Cell Fusion and Actin Cytoskeleton.Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2026Review
- CD45⁺ hybrid circulating cells may reflect tumor-immune interactions and serve as transcriptomic indicators of metastatic potential in prostate cancer.Theranostics · 2026Article
- The authors respond to feedback onFrontiers in oncology · 2026Article
- Assessment of Imaging Mass Cytometry (IMC) as a Tool to Characterize Circulating Tumor Cells (CTCs) in Preclinical Mouse Models.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Diagnosis and monitoring of breast cancer with a novel circulating tumor cells enrichment device.Biomarkers in medicine · 2025Article
- Liquiritin improves macrophage degradation of engulfed tumour cells by promoting the formation of phagolysosomes via NOX2/gp91phox.Journal of pharmaceutical analysis · 2025Article
- Circulating Tumor Microenvironment in Metastasis.Cancer research · 2025Review
- Cell fusion as a driver of metastasis: re-evaluating an old hypothesis in the age of cancer heterogeneity.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Review
- Decoding Metastasis: From Cell Death to Fusion in Cancer Progression.Current cancer drug targets · 2025Review
- Unveiling the dual role of circulating tumor cells in colorectal cancer immunotherapy: a comprehensive review of biomarker utility and immune microenvironment crosstalk.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Review
- Targeting of TAMs: can we be more clever than cancer cells?Cellular & molecular immunology · 2024Review
- Review
- Circulating Tumor Cells: Pathological, Molecular and Functional Characteristics.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Although molecular mechanisms driving tumor progression have been extensively studied, the biological nature of the various populations of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) within the blood is still not well understood. Tumor cell fusion with immune cells is a longstanding hypothesis that has caught more attention in recent times. Specifically, fusion of tumor cells with macrophages might lead to the development of metastasis by acquiring features such as genetic and epigenetic heterogeneity, chemotherapeutic resistance, and immune tolerance. In addition to the traditional FDA-approved definition of a CTC (CD45-, EpCAM+, cytokeratins 8+, 18+ or 19+, with a DAPI+ nucleus), an additional circulating cell population has been identified as being potential fusions cells, characterized by distinct, large, polymorphonuclear cancer-associated cells with a dual epithelial and macrophage/myeloid phenotype. Artificial fusion of tumor cells with macrophages leads to migratory, invasive, and metastatic phenotypes. Further studies might investigate whether these have a potential impact on the immune response towards the cancer. In this review, the background, evidence, and potential relevance of tumor cell fusions with macrophages is discussed, along with the potential role of intercellular connections in their formation. Such fusion cells could be a key component in cancer metastasis, and therefore, evolve as a diagnostic and therapeutic target in cancer precision medicine.
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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.