Liquid Biopsy: Latest Insights into the Biological Significance of Circulating Tumor Cells

Dear Colleagues,

Described by Thomas Ashworth in 1869 for the first time, circulating tumor cells (CTCs) represent one of the most important biomarkers in the field of liquid biopsy. Being passively and actively shed by primary tumor or secondary metastases, CTCs play a major role in the metastatic cascade, contributing to metastasis formation. Despite massive efforts being spent to refine and improve the isolation and analysis of these cells, only a single application has been introduced into clinical practice to date, concerning the prognostic value of CTC counts. Indeed, methodological limitations have hampered the study of the biological significance of these cells, which remain elusive. However, during the last few years, we witnessed constant technical progress that led to more accurate insights into the biology of CTCs. As emerged from recent scientific works, CTCs can exhibit different phenotypes and structural features, overcoming their original definition and adding multiple layers of complexity in the interpretation of these events, which require deeper investigations. In this context, a new classification is extremely desirable to correctly acknowledge the different types of tumor cells found in the blood of cancer patients.

Under these premises, we are pleased to invite you to contribute to this Special Issue with original research articles and reviews, focused on new biological insights into the nature of circulating tumor cells in different tumor types. Topics of interest may include (but are not limited to) the following:

• New biological features of circulating tumor cells;
• Structural characteristics of circulating tumor cells;
• Structural/phenotypical-based classifications of circulating tumor cells;
• The impact of these newly identified CTC characteristics on the clinical decision-making process.

We look forward to receiving your manuscripts.

Dr. Valentina Magri
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Biomedicines is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• liquid biopsy
• circulating tumor cells
• tumor biomarkers
• cancer
• clinical decision-making process
• biology