- [Resource Hub](/)
- [Resource](/?resource-type=poster#library)
- Circulating Tumor Cells (CTCs) as liquid biopsies in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer versus other GI malignancies

# Circulating Tumor Cells (CTCs) as liquid biopsies in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer versus other GI malignancies

Liquid biopsy attention has gone almost entirely to circulating tumor DNA; this ASCO GI 2023 poster reports what real-time circulating tumor cell analysis found across 150 serial draws in metastatic colorectal and other GI cancers.

Presented by Weill Cornell Medicine.

Read or download to see:

- Colorectal cancer carried the highest CTC counts of any GI malignancy in the series. Mean 15.8 and median 7.5 cells per draw, against mean 4.2 and median 3 in pancreatic cancer; at least a third of colorectal patients had 3 or more CTCs, while no pancreatic patient exceeded 20.

- 150 draws and 281 test results, run in real time on two different platforms. Up to four serial draws per patient were analysed on both RareCyte and Parsortix, and the two platforms showed overall agreement on the CTCs they detected.

- Biomarkers were read on the cells themselves, not only on their DNA. HER2, PD-L1, Ki-67 and EGFR analyses were feasible wherever CTCs were detected, single-cell sequencing agreed with the clonal aberrations seen on sequencing, and serial draws tracked CTC kinetics showing early clearance.

[Download poster](https://cdn.sanity.io/files/s3p6uqps/production/d1b5a534d2ceaffe63199065f691671d5a35ae27.pdf)

Your browser doesn’t support embedded PDFs.
[Download the poster](https://cdn.sanity.io/files/s3p6uqps/production/d1b5a534d2ceaffe63199065f691671d5a35ae27.pdf) to view it.

[Back to all resources](/#library)
## Related resources
[Publication](https://doi.org/10.1200/JCO.2026.44.16_suppl.5041) CyteFinder Journal of Clinical Oncology 2026
### Clinical validation of circulating tumor cell synaptophysin and androgen receptor expression in metastatic prostate cancer phenotypes.
[View Publication](https://doi.org/10.1200/JCO.2026.44.16_suppl.5041) [Poster](https://cdn.sanity.io/files/s3p6uqps/production/691cd6e9b37a23fdd7d358244e8fcbac9fc2738b.pdf) 2026
### Clinical Validation of Circulating Tumor Cell Synaptophysin and Androgen Receptor Expression in Metastatic Prostate Cancer Phenotypes
[Download Poster](https://cdn.sanity.io/files/s3p6uqps/production/691cd6e9b37a23fdd7d358244e8fcbac9fc2738b.pdf) [Video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oGC1KRVN2U) CyteFinder 2026
### Dr. Pashtoon Kasi on the impact of circulating tumor cells on clinical research
[Watch Video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oGC1KRVN2U) [Publication](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12881594/) CyteFinder Nature Communications 2026
### Extracellular matrix mediates circulating tumor cell clustering in triple-negative breast cancer metastasis
[View Publication](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12881594/) [Publication](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejso.2025.111357) CyteFinder European Journal of Surgical Oncology 2026
### Circulating tumor cells predict relapse in head and neck mucosal squamous cell carcinoma
[View Publication](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejso.2025.111357) [Publication](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12805936/) CyteFinder Cancer Research Communications 2026
### Surface Marker Identification to Capture Live Circulating Tumor Cells in Metastatic Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
[View Publication](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12805936/) [Publication](https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers17162717) CyteFinder Cancers 2025
### Comprehensive Longitudinal Linear Mixed Modelling of CTCs Illuminates the Role of Trop2, EpCAM, and CD45 in CTC Clustering and Metastasis
[View Publication](https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers17162717) [Publication](https://doi.org/10.1080/07366205.2025.2534299) CyteFinder BioTechniques 2025
### A novel device for buffy coat collection
[View Publication](https://doi.org/10.1080/07366205.2025.2534299) [Poster](https://cdn.sanity.io/files/s3p6uqps/production/246a94d07c9a47c844784f113f57f4415bf84a5c.pdf) CyteFinder 2025
### Development of a CTC Based Assay to Characterize MAOA Expression in Metastatic Prostate Cancer
[Download Poster](https://cdn.sanity.io/files/s3p6uqps/production/246a94d07c9a47c844784f113f57f4415bf84a5c.pdf) [Poster](https://cdn.sanity.io/files/s3p6uqps/production/43fb6d4a8510166e936d250b3bf172e2f669bfa3.pdf) CyteFinder 2025
### Quantitative analysis of HER2, HER3, and γH2AX expression on circulating tumor cells for pharmacodynamic measurement in clinical trials
[Download Poster](https://cdn.sanity.io/files/s3p6uqps/production/43fb6d4a8510166e936d250b3bf172e2f669bfa3.pdf) [Publication](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11985722/) CyteFinder Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences 2025
### Portal venous circulating tumor cells as a biomarker for relapse prediction in resected pancreatic cancer
[View Publication](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11985722/) [Publication](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12092302/) CyteFinder Nature Medicine 2025
### Neoadjuvant triplet immune checkpoint blockade in newly diagnosed glioblastoma
[View Publication](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12092302/)