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Disseminated malignancy is the major cause of prostate cancer-related mortality. Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are essential for the establishment of metastasis. Various contemporary and molecular methods using prostate-specific biomarkers have been applied to detect extraprostatic disease that is undetectable by conventional imaging techniques, assessing the risk for disease recurrence after therapy of curative intent. However, the clinical relevance of CTC detection is still controversial. We review current literature regarding molecular methods used for the detection of CTCs in the peripheral blood and bone marrow biopsies of patients with prostate cancer, and we discuss the methodological pitfalls that influence the clinical significance of molecular staging.

Glutamate is a major excitatory neurotransmitter in the CNS. The signalling machinery consists of: glutamate receptors, which are responsible for signal input; plasma glutamate transporters, which are responsible for signal termination; and vesicular glutamate transporters for signal output through exocytic release. Recently, data have suggested that the glutamatergic system plays an important role in non-neuronal tissues. In addition, the expression of glutamatergic system has been implicated in tumour biology. This review outlines the evidence, which suggests that the glutamatergic system may have an important role in cancer biology.

Herein, we expound the theory of circulating melanoma cells (CMCs) and their detection with reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction as a molecular staging approach. We discuss the molecular markers that have been used for CMC detection focusing on the use of these markers for multiplex detection analysis. Finally, we comment on the contradictory data of CMC detection studies in the literature and we propose possible solutions which may contribute to the clinical significance of CMC detection in patient management.