The type I transmembrane glycoprotein EpCAM is a monomeric membrane glycoprotein that is expressed on most epithelial cell membranes as well as on a variety of epithelial carcinomas. It contains an extracellular domain with two epidermal growth factor-like extracellular domain repeats adjacent to a cysteine-poor region, along with a transmembrane domain, and a short cytoplasmic tail. EpCAM is a powerful tool for the detection of circulating and disseminated cancer cells (CTCs/DTCs) in blood and bone marrow, and it is the most commonly used epithelial marker to capture CTCs/DTCs.
