Does the mobilization of circulating tumour cells during cancer therapy cause metastasis?

Abstract

Despite progressive improvements in the management of patients with locoregionally confined, advanced-stage solid tumours, distant metastasis remains a very common-and usually fatal-mode of failure after attempted curative treatment. Surgery and radiotherapy are the primary curative modalities for these patients, often combined with each other and/or with chemotherapy. Distant metastasis occurring after treatment can arise from previously undetected micrometastases or, alternatively, from persistent locoregional disease. Another possibility is that treatment itself might sometimes cause or promote metastasis. Surgical interventions in patients with cancer, including biopsies, are commonly as..