Despite recent advancements in technology, breast cancer still poses a significant threat, often resulting in fatal consequences. While early detection and treatments have shown some promise, many breast cancer patients continue to struggle with the persistent fear of the disease returning. This fear is valid, as breast cancer cells can lay dormant for years before remerging, evading traditional treatments like a game of hide and seek. The biology of these dormant breast cancer cells presents a crucial yet poorly understood challenge in clinical settings. In this review, we aim to explore the mysterious world of dormant breast cancer cells and their significant impact on patient outcomes and prognosis. We shed light on the elusive role of the G9a enzyme and many other epigenetic factors in breast cancer recurrence, highlighting its potential as a target for eliminating dormant cancer cells and preventing disease relapse. Through this comprehensive review, we not only emphasise the urgency of unravelling the dynamics of dormant breast cancer cells to improve patient outcomes and advance personalised oncology but also provide a guide for fellow researchers. By clearly outlining the clinical and research gaps surrounding dormant breast cancer cells from a molecular perspective, we aim to inspire further exploration of this critical area, ultimately leading to improved patient care and treatment strategies.

• Klíčová slova
• G9a, biomolecular pathways, breast cancer dormancy, metastatic relapse, molecular targeting, therapeutic resistance,
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• přehledy MeSH

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are released from primary tumors and transported through the body via blood or lymphatic vessels before settling to form micrometastases under suitable conditions. Accordingly, several studies have identified CTCs as a negative prognostic factor for survival in many types of cancer. CTCs also reflect the current heterogeneity and genetic and biological state of tumors; so, their study can provide valuable insights into tumor progression, cell senescence, and cancer dormancy. Diverse methods with differing specificity, utility, costs, and sensitivity have been developed for isolating and characterizing CTCs. Additionally, novel techniques with the potential to overcome the limitations of existing ones are being developed. This primary literature review describes the current and emerging methods for enriching, detecting, isolating, and characterizing CTCs.

• Klíčová slova
• characterization, circulating tumor cells, detection, enrichment, microfluidic,
• MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• nádorové cirkulující buňky * patologie   MeSH
• separace buněk metody   MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• přehledy MeSH

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are rare cells that can be found in the peripheral blood of cancer patients. They have been demonstrated to be useful prognostic markers in many cancer types. Within the last decade various methods have been developed to detect rare cells within a liquid biopsy from a cancer patient. These methods have revealed the phenotypic diversity of CTCs and how they can represent the complement of cells that are found in a tumor. Single-cell proteogenomics has emerged as an all-encompassing next-generation technological approach for CTC research. This allows for the deconstruction of cellular heterogeneity, dynamics of metastatic initiation and progression, and response or resistance to therapeutics in the clinical settings. We take advantage of this opportunity to investigate CTC heterogeneity and understand their full potential in precision medicine.The high-definition single-cell analysis (HD-SCA) workflow combines detection of the entire population of CTCs and rare cancer related cells with single-cell genomic analysis and may therefore provide insight into their subpopulations based on molecular as well as morphological data. In this chapter we describe in detail the protocols from isolation of a candidate cell from a microscopy slide, through whole-genome amplification and library preparation, to CNV analysis of identified cells from the HD-SCA workflow. This process may also be applicable to any platform starting with a standard microscopy slide or isolated cell of interest.

• Klíčová slova
• CNV, CTC, Circulating tumor cells, Copy number variation, Liquid biopsy, Precision medicine, Single-cell analysis,
• MeSH
• analýza jednotlivých buněk metody   MeSH
• individualizovaná medicína MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• mutace MeSH
• nádorové cirkulující buňky MeSH
• nádory diagnóza   genetika   MeSH
• proteogenomika metody   MeSH
• variabilita počtu kopií segmentů DNA * MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs), detached from the primary tumor or metastases and shed in the patient's bloodstream, represent a relatively easily obtainable sample of the cancer tissue that can indicate the actual state of cancer, and their evaluation can be repeated many times during the course of treatment. As part of liquid biopsy, evaluation of CTCs provides a lot of clinically relevant information, which reflects the actual, real-time conditions of the disease. CTCs can be used in cancer diagnosis or screening, real-time long-term disease monitoring and even therapy guidance. Their analysis can include their number, morphology, and biological features by using immunocytochemistry and all "-omic" technologies. This review describes methods of CTC isolation and potential clinical utilization in lung cancer.

• Klíčová slova
• Circulating tumor cells, biomarker, culturing, liquid biopsy, lung cancer, review,
• MeSH
• časná detekce nádoru MeSH
• diagnostické techniky molekulární MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• nádorové biomarkery MeSH
• nádorové cirkulující buňky metabolismus   patologie   MeSH
• nádory plic diagnóza   etiologie   terapie   MeSH
• tekutá biopsie metody   MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• přehledy MeSH
• Názvy látek
• nádorové biomarkery MeSH

Evaluation of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) has demonstrated clinical validity as a prognostic tool based on enumeration, but since the introduction of this tool to the clinic in 2004, further clinical utility and widespread adoption have been limited. However, immense efforts have been undertaken to further the understanding of the mechanisms behind the biology and kinetics of these rare cells, and progress continues toward better applicability in the clinic. This review describes recent advances within the field, with a particular focus on understanding the biological significance of CTCs, and summarizes emerging methods for identifying, isolating, and interrogating the cells that may provide technical advantages allowing for the discovery of more specific clinical applications. Included is an atlas of high-definition images of CTCs from various cancer types, including uncommon CTCs captured only by broadly inclusive nonenrichment techniques.

• Klíčová slova
• biomarkers, circulating tumor microemboli, fluid biopsy, liquid biopsy, metastasis, precision medicine,
• MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• nádorové biomarkery analýza   MeSH
• nádorové cirkulující buňky patologie   MeSH
• nádory patologie   MeSH
• prognóza MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• přehledy MeSH
• Názvy látek
• nádorové biomarkery MeSH