Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are cancer cells that break away from solid tumors and enter the bloodstream (or other body fluids). Even small tumors can release a substantial number of these cells, and a typical cancer patient may have thousands of CTCs circulating in their blood at any given moment. Once in circulation, these CTCs travel through the body and play a critical role in the spread of cancer, or metastasis, by forming new tumors in distant organs. Fortunately, CTCs can be isolated from blood samples, providing valuable opportunities for early detection, monitoring disease progression, and developing targeted therapies. 

The new era of personalized oncology depends on a thorough characterization of tumors. At Tzu Cancer Therapeutics, we are building technology to carefully isolate CTCs from individual patients and generate deep information on the expression of possible targets for therapy using advanced omics data generation and analysis. We are using this information to build novel patient-specific therapeutic strategies aligned with the characteristics of the tumor.