scholarly journals Dangerous Liaisons: Circulating Tumor Cells (CTCs) and Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts (CAFs)

Cancers ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 2861
Author(s):  
Pablo Hurtado ◽  
Inés Martínez-Pena ◽  
Roberto Piñeiro
Keyword(s):  
Tumor Cells ◽  
Circulating Tumor Cells ◽  
Cancer Metastasis ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Single Cells ◽  
Metastatic Potential ◽  
Cancer Associated Fibroblasts ◽  
Cytokines And Chemokines ◽  
Paracrine Secretion ◽  
Cellular Components

The crosstalk between cancer cells and the tumor microenvironment (TME) is a key determinant of cancer metastasis. Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), one of the main cellular components of TME, promote cancer cell invasion and dissemination through mechanisms including cell-cell interactions and the paracrine secretion of growth factors, cytokines and chemokines. During metastasis, circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are shed from the primary tumor to the bloodstream, where they can be detected as single cells or clusters. The current knowledge about the biology of CTC clusters positions them as key actors in metastasis formation. It also indicates that CTCs do not act alone and that they may be aided by stromal and immune cells, which seem to shape their metastatic potential. Among these cells, CAFs are found associated with CTCs in heterotypic CTC clusters, and their presence seems to increase their metastatic efficiency. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge on the role that CAFs play on metastasis and we discuss their implication on the biogenesis, metastasis-initiating capacity of CTC clusters, and clinical implications. Moreover, we speculate about possible therapeutic strategies aimed to limit the metastatic potential of CTC clusters involving the targeting of CAFs as well as their difficulties and limitations.

scholarly journals Targeting AXL and RAGE to prevent geminin overexpression-induced triple-negative breast cancer metastasis

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Ryan ◽  
Jim Koziol ◽  
Wael M. ElShamy
Keyword(s):  
Tumor Cells ◽  
Cancer Metastasis ◽  
Triple Negative ◽  
Tumor Stroma ◽  
Metastatic Potential ◽  
Breast Cancer Metastasis ◽  
Cancer Associated Fibroblasts ◽  
Patient Death ◽  
Functional Interaction ◽  
Α3β1 Integrin

AbstractDissemination of metastatic precursors from primaries is the primary reason for patient death. Dissemination encompasses tumor cells invasion of stroma, followed by intravasation through the endothelium barrier into the bloodstream. Here, we describe how geminin-overexpressing tumor cells acquire dissemination ability. Acetylated HMGB1 (Ac-HMGB1) secreted by geminin-overexpressing cells activates RAGE and CXCR4 expression on mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) located in tumor stroma. Through secreting CXCL12, geminin-overexpressing cells recruit these CXCR4+-MSCs into the tumor. Within the tumor, MSCs differentiate into S100A4-secreting cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs). S100A4, in a reciprocal manner, activates geminin-overexpressing cells to secrete CCL2 that recruits M0-macrophages from the stroma into the tumor. Within the tumor, CCL2 polarizes M0-macrophages into Gas6-secreting M2-tumor-associated macrophages (M2-TAMs). In concert, geminin-overexpression, S100A4/RAGE and Gas6/AXL signaling promote the invasive and intravasation abilities in geminin-overexpressing cells through exacerbating their stemness and epithelial-to-mesenchymal phenotypes and enhancing expression and functional interaction of CD151 and α3β1-integrin in geminin-overexpressing cells. Tumors formed following injection of geminin-overexpressing cells admixed with MSCs/CAFs grew faster, metastasized earlier, especially to lungs, and were extremely sensitive to anti-c-Abl, anti-RAGE, and anti-AXL drugs. These data support an intrinsic ability in geminin-overexpressing tumor cells to promote their metastatic potential through recruitment and bi-directional interactions with MSCs/CAFs and M2-TAMs.

scholarly journals Circulating Tumor Cells: Technologies and Their Clinical Potential in Cancer Metastasis

Biomedicines ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 1111
Author(s):  
Jerry Xiao ◽  
Paula R. Pohlmann ◽  
Claudine Isaacs ◽  
Benjamin A. Weinberg ◽  
Aiwu R. He ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tumor Cells ◽  
Circulating Tumor Cells ◽  
Cancer Metastasis ◽  
Immune Cell ◽  
Single Cells ◽  
Circulatory System ◽  
Clinical Importance ◽  
Progression Free Survival ◽  
Primary Tumors ◽  
Isolation Techniques

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are single cells or clusters of cells within the circulatory system of a cancer patient. While most CTCs will perish, a small proportion will proceed to colonize the metastatic niche. The clinical importance of CTCs was reaffirmed by the 2008 FDA approval of CellSearch®, a platform that could extract EpCAM-positive, CD45-negative cells from whole blood samples. Many further studies have demonstrated the presence of CTCs to stratify patients based on overall and progression-free survival, among other clinical indices. Given their unique role in metastasis, CTCs could also offer a glimpse into the genetic drivers of metastasis. Investigation of CTCs has already led to groundbreaking discoveries such as receptor switching between primary tumors and metastatic nodules in breast cancer, which could greatly affect disease management, as well as CTC-immune cell interactions that enhance colonization. In this review, we will highlight the growing variety of isolation techniques for investigating CTCs. Next, we will provide clinically relevant context for CTCs, discussing key clinical trials involving CTCs. Finally, we will provide insight into the future of CTC studies and some questions that CTCs are primed to answer.

scholarly journals CIRCULATING TUMOR CELLS: WHERE WE LEFT OFF?

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 5-27
Author(s):  
I. Kryvoshlyk ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Cancer Treatment ◽  
Tumor Cells ◽  
Circulating Tumor Cells ◽  
Cancer Metastasis ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Treatment Strategies ◽  
Current Data ◽  
Cancer Prognosis ◽  
Migration And Invasion ◽  
Tumor Resistance

Cancer metastasis and recurrence are the leading causes of cancer-related death. Tumor cells which leave the primary or secondary tumors and shed into the bloodstream are called circulating tumor cells (CTC). These cells are the key drivers of cancer dissemination to surrounding tissues and to distant organs. The use of CTC in clinical practice necessitates the deep insight into their biology, as well as into their role in cancer evasion of immune surveillance, tumor resistance to chemo- radio- and immunotherapies and metastatic dormancy. Aim. The purpose of the work was to review the current knowledge on the CTC biology, as well as the prospects for their use for the diagnosis and targeted treatment of metastatic disease. Methods. The work proposed the integrative literature review using MEDLINE, Biological Abstracts and EMBASE databases. Results. This review summarizes and discusses historical milestones and current data concerning СTС biology, the main stages of their life cycle, their role in metastatic cascade, clinical prospects for their use as markers for the diagnosis and prognostication of the disease course, as well as targets for cancer treatment. Conclusions. Significant progress in the area of CTC biology and their use in cancer theranostics convincingly proved the attractiveness of these cells as targets for cancer prognosis and therapy. The effective use of liquid biopsy with quantitative and phenotypic characteristics of CTCs is impeded by the imperfection of the methodology for taking biological material and by the lack of reliable markers for assessing the metastatic potential of CTCs of various origins. The variety of mechanisms of tumor cells migration and invasion requires the development of complex therapeutic approaches for anti-metastatic therapy targeting CTCs. Efforts to address these key issues could help developing new and effective cancer treatment strategies.

scholarly journals FlowCell-enriched circulating tumor cells as a predictor of lung cancer metastasis

Human Cell ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yan Lu ◽  
Yushuang Zheng ◽  
Yuhong Wang ◽  
Dongmei Gu ◽  
Jun Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Lung Cancer ◽  
Tumor Cells ◽  
Circulating Tumor Cells ◽  
Cancer Metastasis ◽  
Lung Tumor ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
High Rate ◽  
Early Stage Lung Cancer ◽  
Lung Cancer Metastasis ◽  
Number Of Patients

AbstractLung cancer is the most fetal malignancy due to the high rate of metastasis and recurrence after treatment. A considerable number of patients with early-stage lung cancer relapse due to overlooked distant metastasis. Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are tumor cells in blood circulation that originated from primary or metastatic sites, and it has been shown that CTCs are critical for metastasis and prognosis in various type of cancers. Here, we employed novel method to capture, isolate and classify CTC with FlowCell system and analyzed the CTCs from a cohort of 302 individuals. Our results illustrated that FlowCell-enriched CTCs effectively differentiated benign and malignant lung tumor and the total CTC counts increased as the tumor developed. More importantly, we showed that CTCs displayed superior sensitivity and specificity to predict lung cancer metastasis in comparison to conventional circulating biomarkers. Taken together, our data suggested CTCs can be used to assist the diagnosis of lung cancer as well as predict lung cancer metastasis. These findings provide an alternative means to screen early-stage metastasis.

scholarly journals Mitotic arrest affects clustering of tumor cells

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Bonnet ◽  
Lise Rigal ◽  
Odile Mondesert ◽  
Renaud Morin ◽  
Gaelle Corsaut ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tumor Cells ◽  
Circulating Tumor Cells ◽  
Cancer Cell ◽  
Cell Aggregation ◽  
Metastatic Potential ◽  
Mitotic Arrest ◽  
Chemotherapeutic Agents ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Mcf 7

Abstract Background Cancer cell aggregation is a key process involved in the formation of tumor cell clusters. It has recently been shown that clusters of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) have an increased metastatic potential compared to isolated circulating tumor cells. Several widely used chemotherapeutic agents that target the cytoskeleton microtubules and cause cell cycle arrest at mitosis have been reported to modulate CTC number or the size of CTC clusters. Results In this study, we investigated in vitro the impact of mitotic arrest on the ability of breast tumor cells to form clusters. By using live imaging and quantitative image analysis, we found that MCF-7 cancer cell aggregation is compromised upon incubation with paclitaxel or vinorelbine, two chemotherapeutic drugs that target microtubules. In line with these results, we observed that MCF-7 breast cancer cells experimentally synchronized and blocked in metaphase aggregated poorly and formed loose clusters. To monitor clustering at the single-cell scale, we next developed and validated an in vitro assay based on live video-microscopy and custom-designed micro-devices. The study of cluster formation from MCF-7 cells that express the fluorescent marker LifeAct-mCherry using this new assay allowed showing that substrate anchorage-independent clustering of MCF-7 cells was associated with the formation of actin-dependent highly dynamic cell protrusions. Metaphase-synchronized and blocked cells did not display such protrusions, and formed very loose clusters that failed to compact. Conclusions Altogether, our results suggest that mitotic arrest induced by microtubule-targeting anticancer drugs prevents cancer cell clustering and therefore, could reduce the metastatic potential of circulating tumor cells.

scholarly journals A small molecule screen identified N-Acetyl-L-cysteine for promoting ex vivo growth of single circulating tumor cells

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Teng Teng ◽  
Mohamed Kamal ◽  
Oihana Iriondo ◽  
Yonatan Amzaleg ◽  
Chunqiao Luo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tumor Cells ◽  
Circulating Tumor Cells ◽  
Small Molecule ◽  
Ex Vivo ◽  
Single Cells ◽  
Small Subset ◽  
Blood Draw ◽  
Small Molecule Screen ◽  
Functional Analyses ◽  
Single Ctcs

AbstractCirculating tumor cells (CTCs) can be isolated via a minimally invasive blood draw and are considered a “liquid biopsy” of their originating solid tumors. CTCs contain a small subset of metastatic precursors that can form metastases in secondary organs, and provide a resource to identify mechanisms underlying metastasis-initiating properties. Despite technological advancements that allow for highly sensitive approaches of detection and isolation, CTCs are very rare and often present as single cells, posing an extreme challenge for ex vivo expansion after isolation. Here, using previously established patient-derived CTC lines, we performed a small molecule drug screening to identify compounds that can improve ex vivo culture efficiency for single CTCs. We found that N-acetylcysteine (NAC) and other antioxidants can promote ex vivo expansion of single CTCs, by reducing oxidative and other stress particularly at the initial stage of single cell expansion. RNA-seq analysis of growing clones and non-growing clones confirmed the effect by NAC, but also indicate that NAC-induced decrease in oxidative stress is insufficient for promoting proliferation of a subset of cells with heterogeneous quiescent and senescent features. Despite the challenge in expanding all CTCs, NAC treatment lead to establishment of single CTC clones that have similar tumorigenic features, which will facilitate future functional analyses.

scholarly journals miR-200 deficiency promotes lung cancer metastasis by activating cancer-associated fibroblasts

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bin Xue ◽  
Chen-Hua Chuang ◽  
Haydn M. Prosser ◽  
Cesar Seigi Fuziwara ◽  
Claudia Chan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Lung Cancer ◽  
Lung Adenocarcinoma ◽  
Cancer Cells ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Cancer Metastasis ◽  
Lung Cancer Mortality ◽  
Tumor Stroma ◽  
Metastatic Potential ◽  
Human Lung Cancer ◽  
Cancer Associated Fibroblasts

AbstractLung adenocarcinoma, the most prevalent lung cancer subtype, is characterized by its high propensity to metastasize. Despite the importance of metastasis in lung cancer mortality, its underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms remain largely elusive. Here, we identified miR-200 miRNAs as potent suppressors for lung adenocarcinoma metastasis. miR-200 expression is specifically repressed in mouse metastatic lung adenocarcinomas, and miR-200 decrease strongly correlates with poor patient survival. Consistently, deletion of mir-200c/141 in the KrasLSL-G12D/+; Trp53flox/flox lung adenocarcinoma mouse model significantly promoted metastasis, generating a desmoplastic tumor stroma highly reminiscent of metastatic human lung cancer. miR-200 deficiency in lung cancer cells promotes the proliferation and activation of adjacent cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), which in turn elevates the metastatic potential of cancer cells. miR-200 regulates the functional interaction between cancer cells and CAFs, at least in part, by targeting Notch ligand Jagged1 and Jagged2 in cancer cells and inducing Notch activation in adjacent CAFs. Hence, the interaction between cancer cells and CAFs constitutes an essential mechanism to promote metastatic potential.

scholarly journals Evaluation of the Role of Circulating Tumor Cells and Microsatellite Instability Status in Predicting Outcome of Advanced CRC Patients

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 235
Author(s):  
Ippokratis Messaritakis ◽  
Maria Sfakianaki ◽  
Konstantinos Vogiatzoglou ◽  
Asimina Koulouridi ◽  
Chara Koutoulaki ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prognostic Factors ◽  
Microsatellite Instability ◽  
Tumor Cells ◽  
Circulating Tumor Cells ◽  
Performance Status ◽  
Metastatic Potential ◽  
Tumor Location ◽  
High Status ◽  
Predicting Outcome

Colorectal cancer (CRC) remains one of the leading causes of cancer-related death due to its high metastatic potential. This study aimed to investigate the detection and heterogeneity of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and the microsatellite instability (MSI) status in advanced CRC patients prior to any systemic front-line treatment. Peripheral whole blood was obtained from 198 patients. CTCs were detected using double immunofluorescence and a real time-polymerase chain reaction assay; whereas MSI status was evaluated using fragment analysis. Median age of the patients was 66 years, 63.1% were males, 65.2% had a colon/sigmoid tumor location and 90.4% had a good performance status (PS). MSI-High status was detected in 4.9% of the patients; 33.3%, 56.1% and 8.6% patients had at least one detectable CEACAM5+/EpCAM+, CEACAM5+/EpCAM− and CEACAM5−/EpCAM+ CTC, respectively, and 9.1% of the patients had CEACAM5mRNA-positive CTCs. Following multivariate analysis, age, PS and MSI were confirmed as independent prognostic factors for decreased time to progression, whereas age, PS and CTC presence were confirmed as independent prognostic factors for decreased overall survival. In conclusion, our data support the use of CEACAM5 as a dynamic adverse prognostic CTC biomarker in patients with metastatic CRC and MSI-High is considered an unfavorable prognostic factor in metastatic CRC patient tumors.

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