Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
3910174 | The Breast | 2007 | 4 Pages |
Abstract
During the past three decades, efforts successfully established the presence of disseminated tumor cells (DTC) in bone marrow as a prognostic factor. These works were comprehensively evaluated in a pooled analysis that now permits to classify the prognostic significance of DTC as level I evidence. Intriguing molecular data suggest a role for tumor stem cells possibly responsible for the prognostic impact of DTC. In a typical clinical setting of the year 2007, DTC—irrespectively of the strong prognostic significance—would only have a convincing clinical application if DTC were a surrogate marker for treatment efficacy. Consequently, this important question is to be addressed in well-designed clinical trials.
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Authors
Stephan Braun, Florian D. Vogl, Alois Schneitter, Daniel Egle, Doris Auer, Margarete Lang, Christian Marth,