Chemotherapy-induced release of circulating-tumor cells into the bloodstream in collective migration units with cancer-associated fibroblasts in metastatic cancer patients

Recent studies have shown that chemotherapy destabilizes the blood vasculature and increases circulating tumor cell (CTC) influx into the circulation of metastatic cancer patients (Met-pa). CTCs are a precursor of cancer metastasis, in which they can migrate as single CTCs or as CTC clusters with stromal cells such as cancerassociated fibroblasts (CAFs) as cell aggregates.