摘要肿瘤转移和重要器官功能的丧失是头颈部肿瘤患者主要的死亡原因之一。寻找一种比目前常用的方法能更早期且更可靠的确定肿瘤转移和复发，可以改善治疗和预后。已确定循环肿瘤细胞在一些实体瘤中的监测转移及预后中起重要作用，检测肿瘤患者特别是高风险局部复发或远处转移的患者血液循环中的肿瘤细胞具有重要意义。本文就头颈部肿瘤相关肿瘤循环细胞最新研究进展做一综述。

abstractsMetastasis and the associated loss of function of vital organs in the course of the disease is one of the main causes of death in head and neck cancer patients. Finding a method that is more early and more reliable than currently used methods for determining tumor metastasis and recurrence can improve treatment and prognosis. Circulating tumor cells have been identiifed to play an important role in the monitoring of metastasis and prognosis in some solid tumors. Detection of tumor cells in cancer patients, especially in patients with high risk of local recurrence or distant metastasis, is of great signiifcance. In this paper, a review is made on the latest research progress of circulating cells in head and neck cancer.