Ioannis Papasotiriou
RGCC International GmbH, Switzerland
Title: The relationship between CTCs and CSCs and their clinical influence: their contribution to translational medicine
Biography
Biography: Ioannis Papasotiriou
Abstract
The entity of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) has a controversial impact to the clinical field since there are many aspects that have not been well understood and defined. Simultaneously the model of cancer stem cells (CSCs) has been recently introduced in order to explain the hierarchy of tumor growth and the heterogeneity between the cancer cells that consist the tumor. What is the relationship between CTCs and CSCs as subset of the one inside the other? The mechanisms that the stemness phenotype is relied upon are they similar with the normal stem cells? And up to what extent? Can CTCs become the proper entity to search the CSC? Can these cells been effectively isolated? What are the available technologies? Can they have an influence to the prognosis and therapy strategy in Oncology? Can the CTCs as well as the CSC become the source of new drugable targets and the initiating force of developing more effective therapeutic agents? What are the limitations and barriers that we need to be aware of? All these questions are bringing together the entities of CTCS and CSC as one of the main tools for applying personalized medicine in Oncology.
