Circulating Tumour Cells as Potential Biomarkers for Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Abstract

This review evaluates the emerging role of circulating tumour cells (CTCs) as clinically meaningful, minimally invasive biomarkers for oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Despite advances in management, OSCC continues to demonstrate high morbidity and mortality, largely due to late diagnosis and the absence of validated biomarkers for early detection or real-time monitoring. Conventional diagnostic tools, tissue biopsy, and imaging provide only static snapshots and fail to capture tumour heterogeneity or evolving biological behaviour. CTCs offer a novel and significant opportunity to address these limitations. Key findings from recent studies highlight that CTC enumeration correlates with tumour burden, nodal metastasis, recurrence, and overall prognosis. Molecular and phenotypic characterisation further reveals dynamic traits such as epithelial-mesenchymal transition, stemness, and therapy resistance, providing insights into metastatic potential and treatment failure. Technological advances, including immunocytochemistry, microfluidic capture platforms, PCR-based assays, and next-generation sequencing, have enhanced the sensitivity and specificity of CTC detection and enabled detailed multi-omic profiling. Collectively, evidence suggests that integrating CTC analysis into OSCC clinical workflows could improve early detection, refine risk stratification, personalise therapeutic strategies, and support longitudinal monitoring of disease dynamics. As research progresses, CTC-based diagnostics represent a promising frontier in shifting OSCC management toward more precise, adaptive, and biologically informed care.