The ability to predict or detect colorectal cancer (CRC) recurrence early after surgery enables physicians to apply appropriate treatment plans and different follow-up strategies to improve patient survival. Overall, 30–50% of CRC patients experience cancer recurrence after radical surgery, but current surveillance tools have limitations in the precise and early detection of cancer recurrence. Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are cancer cells that detach from the primary tumor and enter the bloodstream. These can provide real-time information on disease status. CTCs might become novel markers for predicting CRC recurrence and, more importantly, for making decisions about additional adjuvant chemotherapy. In this review, the clinical application of CTCs as a therapeutic marker for stage II CRC is described. It then discusses the utility of CTCs for monitoring cancer recurrence in advanced rectal cancer patients who undergo neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy. Finally, it discusses the roles of CTC subtypes and CTCs combined with clinicopathological factors in establishing a multimarker model for predicting CRC recurrence.
术后早期预测或检测结直肠癌复发的能力，使医生能够制定适当的治疗计划和不同的随访策略，从而提高患者生存率。总体而言，30-50%的结直肠癌患者在根治性手术后会出现癌症复发，但目前的监测工具在精确和早期检测癌症复发方面存在局限性。循环肿瘤细胞是从原发肿瘤脱离并进入血液的癌细胞，能够提供疾病状态的实时信息。循环肿瘤细胞可能成为预测结直肠癌复发的新型标志物，更重要的是，可用于辅助化疗的决策制定。本综述阐述了循环肿瘤细胞作为II期结直肠癌治疗标志物的临床应用，探讨了循环肿瘤细胞在监测接受新辅助放化疗的晚期直肠癌患者癌症复发中的效用，最后讨论了循环肿瘤细胞亚型及其与临床病理因素结合在建立预测结直肠癌复发的多标志物模型中的作用。
肿瘤(癌症)患者之家