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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\u2013mesenchymal 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.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/molecules31071145","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,30]],"date-time":"2026-03-30T15:20:47Z","timestamp":1774884047000},"page":"1145","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Circulating Tumour Cells as Potential Biomarkers for Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"31","author":[{"given":"Mzubanzi","family":"Mabongo","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University of KwaZulu-Natal, 719 Umbilo Road, Congella, Durban 4001, South Africa"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0267-3228","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Talent","family":"Chipiti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"SAMRC Precision Oncology Research Unit (PORU), DSI\/NRF SARChI Chair in Precision Oncology and Cancer Prevention (POCP), Pan African Cancer Research Institute (PACRI), University of Pretoria, Hatfield, Pretoria 0028, South Africa"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Rodney","family":"Hull","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"SAMRC Precision Oncology Research Unit (PORU), DSI\/NRF SARChI Chair in Precision Oncology and Cancer Prevention (POCP), Pan African Cancer Research Institute (PACRI), University of Pretoria, Hatfield, Pretoria 0028, South Africa"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Lindokuhle","family":"Sibiya","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University of KwaZulu-Natal, 719 Umbilo Road, Congella, Durban 4001, South Africa"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8991-6060","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Boitumelo","family":"Phakathi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Surgery, University of KwaZulu-Natal, 719 Umbilo Road, Congella, Durban 4001, South Africa"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8012-3646","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Zodwa","family":"Dlamini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"SAMRC Precision Oncology Research Unit (PORU), DSI\/NRF SARChI Chair in Precision Oncology and Cancer Prevention (POCP), Pan African Cancer Research Institute (PACRI), University of Pretoria, Hatfield, Pretoria 0028, South Africa"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,30]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"895","DOI":"10.1038\/nm1469","article-title":"Tumor Metastasis: Mechanistic Insights and Clinical Challenges","volume":"12","author":"Steeg","year":"2006","journal-title":"Nat. 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