Disseminated Tumour Cells (DTC) in Left Sided Colorectal Cancer (LSCC).

Two metaanalyses of studies on the prognostic significance of circulating cancer cells in colorectal cancer indicated, that the presence of circulating tumour cells (CTC) in the peripheral blood is the negative prognostic factor. However there is no sufficient evidence that disseminated tumour cells (DTC) in the bone marrow of the colorectal cancer patients influence the prognosis. There is the evidence that right-sided and left- sided cancers may have different biology and different prognosis. Therefore in this study the investigators concentrated on the left colon and rectum locations with the locally advanced cancer being the main area of interest.
The aim of this study was to analyse the relation of DTC with the tumor characteristics, cancer progression and survival in left sided colorectal cancer.