ArticleFrontiers in oncology2026
Longitudinal monitoring of circulating tumor cell phenotypic conversion as a predictor of late recurrence in breast cancer: a prospective feasibility study using the GenoCTC platform.
Article in Frontiers in oncology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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Abstract
Purpose: Patients with hormone receptor-positive (HR+) breast cancer faces a persistent, constant risk of distant recurrence for over 20 years. This proof-of-concept study evaluated the clinical utility of circulating tumor cell (CTCs) monitoring using the GenoCTC Methods: Blood samples from 25 breast cancer patients in recurrence-free survival (RFS), 4-13 years post-surgery, were analyzed using the GenoCTC Results: At baseline, CTCs were detected in 24% of patients. CTC burden was significantly associated with recurrence (P <.0001) and mortality (P = .0016). A high CTC count was identified in all recurrence events (P = .003). In longitudinal follow-up, 6 of 8 (75%) initially CTC-negative patients demonstrated "molecular conversion" characterized by a "burst" of epithelial-mesenchymal hybrid CTCs, including CK+/Vimentin+ and cMET+ populations. Conclusion: Longitudinal phenotypic CTC profiling could identify a pre-clinical "molecular conversion" in breast cancer survivors, which has the potential to provide a time lead over radiographic appearance of recurrence. Integration of EpCAM, Vimentin and cMET multi-marker CTC monitoring into standard long-term follow-up may enable early interception of dormancy escape and late relapse.
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