Neuroblastoma is the most common extracranial solid
tumor in children, accounting for 10% to 20% of deaths of pediatric
malignancies. Due to the poor prognosis and significant biological heterogeneity of
neuroblastoma, it is essential to develop personalized
therapeutics and monitor treatment response.
Circulating tumor cells (CTCs), as one of the important analytes for liquid biopsy, could facilitate response assessment and outcome prediction for patients in a non-invasive way. Several methods and platforms have been used for the enrichment and detection of CTCs. The enumeration of CTCs counts and evaluation of
tumor-specific
mRNA transcript levels could provide prognostic information at diagnosis, during or after
chemotherapy, and during the process of
disease progression. So far, studies into
neuroblastoma CTCs are only in the preliminary stages. The quality-controlled large prospective cohort studies are needed to evaluate the clinical significance and statistical rigor of CTC detection methods. Moreover, there remains a lot to be explored and investigated in genotyping characterization of
neuroblastoma (NB) CTCs and construction of in-vitro or in-vivo functional models. CTCs and
circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) analysis will be complementary in understanding
tumor heterogeneity and evolution over the course of
therapy for patients with NB in the future.