Morgan TM, et al. - Researchers performed a retrospective review of charts belonging to patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (HNSCC) whose circulating tumor cells (CTCs) were quantified using surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) nanotechnology to assess their outcomes. By maximizing the log-rank statistic, they determined the optimal cut point of 675 CTCs in 7.5 ml of peripheral blood for predicting distant metastasis-free survival. Findings suggest the potential utility of liquid biopsy techniques in HNSCC for identifying patients at greater risk of disease progression.