Journal of Medical Diagnostic Methods
Open Access

Clinical Significance of Tumor Cells in Colon and Breast Neoplasm

Nine Wu^{* *}Correspondence: Nine Wu, Department of Gastroenterological Surgery, Peking University People's Hospital, Beijing, China, Email:

Author info »

Description

With about a million fatalities from Colorectal Cancer (CRC) each year, it is the fourth most deadly malignancy worldwide. Its morbidity and mortality have gone up recently as a result of a lack of therapeutic alternatives and delayed diagnosis. Improving the prognosis of patients with colorectal cancer requires early detection and precision treatment. Previously, biopsy-based methods were the primary means of obtaining a definitive diagnosis of colorectal cancer. The features of the tumor cannot be accurately reflected in a single static biopsy material. As a result, a safer and timelier way to gather detailed and dynamic data that can represent the course and response to therapy of cancer is desperately needed to either augment or replace solid tissue biopsies.

Despite significant advancements in CRC detection and treatment over the past few decades, the disease has a less than 60% long-term survival rate. The kinds and Tumor-Node- Metastasis (TNM) stages of colorectal cancer are directly correlated with the survival rate. Additionally, certain gene expressions including RBM and HSPA1A are connected to the survival rate of colorectal cancer. According to recent research, cancer patient’s Circulation Tumor Cells (CTCs) were strongly linked to the disease's metastasis and recurrence.

CTCs are cells that originated from the main tumor and have the ability to spread like seeds through the blood circulation system to other distant organs. This mechanism was the cause of resistance to anti-cancer treatment as well as the spread and recurrence of numerous malignancies, including head, neck, lung, stomach, and breast cancers.

In cancer, metastasis is the most deadly characteristic. Metastasis continues to be a key barrier to improving the clinical outcomes of cancer patients, despite tremendous advancements over the past several centuries in cancer diagnosis and therapy. Nevertheless, during the past 200 years, important advancements have been made in the understanding of the basic ideas that underlie the development of metastasis and in the creation of new technologies that aid in the study of cancer spread. Cancer cell invasion is the main site, intravasation into circulation, survival in the circulation, extravasation from the circulation, attachment to and colonization of the metastatic site are all intricate steps in the multistep process of cancer metastasis.

One in every eight women in the US population will experience breast cancer at some point in their lives, making it the most frequent cancer to strike a woman. Despite advancements in screening and multimodality treatment over the past few decades, the disease is still highly treatable and curable, but it still carries a high morbidity rate and a potentially considerable death risk. Approximately 5–10% of individuals will have distant metastases or lymph nodes at the time of diagnosis. About 30%of patients will experience a distant metastatic recurrence even after receiving the best care possible for their locally advanced cancer, which may include surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, and hormone therapy. The most often documented locations of distant metastasis, notwithstanding breast cancer's tendency to be nonselective in its metastatic targets, include the lungs, bone, liver, brain, soft tissue, and adrenal glands. Usually, lymphatic dissemination results in metastasis.

A rare but distinctive pattern of breast malignancy is secondary colon and rectal cancer from breast cancer metastases. Reports of this pattern of cancer are growing. Because patients frequently appear with nonspecific gastrointestinal symptoms and a prolonged latency period, diagnosis calls for a high index of suspicion. There is a lack of clarity in management. Nonetheless, it appears that medical management, involving hormonal therapy and chemotherapy, is preferred, most likely due to the total metastatic burden at the time of diagnosis. In certain patients with isolated colorectal metastases, radical colonic resection has been well tolerated and may have an impact on survival. Patients with high-risk breast cancer characteristics may benefit from an early detection and treatment through a routine screening colonoscopy.