International journal of cancer. Journal international du cancer
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Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is the sixth most common cancer with 650,000 new cases p/a worldwide. HNSCC causes high morbidity with a 5-year survival rate of less than 60%, which has not improved due to the lack of early detection (Bozec et al. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol. 2013;270: 2745-9). ⋯ This will aid in the capture of heterogeneous CTCs, which can be compiled as new targets for the current food and drug administration-cleared CellSearch® system. Recent studies on CTCs in HNSCC with the CellSearch® have shown variable data. Therefore, there is an immediate need for large clinical trials encompassing a suite of biomarkers capturing CTCs in HNSCC, before CTCs can be used as prognostic markers in HNSCC patient management.