Circulating Tumour Cells and Circulating Endothelial Cells As Biomarkers in Oncology (Continuing Medical Education) (Report‪)‬

INTRODUCTION In the last decade, a large number of new and highly specific anti-cancer drugs have been developed that have shown to increase survival in a variety of cancers (1-3). Unfortunately, drug development is time-consuming and costly, as are the clinical studies needed to demonstrate a drug's pharmacodynamics, its safety, and its efficacy in patients. Use of sensitive and specific biomarkers could greatly aid in the development and approval of new compounds, as well as in the selection of patients receiving them. Furthermore, these biomarkers could provide clinicians with crucial information on prognosis and treatment efficacy and might detect disease relapse before it becomes clinically or radiographically evident.