AXL is known to be an important factor driving epithelial‐to‐mesenchymal transition (EMT) and is involved in a wide variety of cellular responses including promoting cell proliferation, survival, adhesion, motility, and invasion.19, 20, 21 Moreover, the level of AXL expression is associated with cancer progression and drug resistance, thus new pharmaceuticals targeting AXL are being developed.22, 23, 24 The detection of AXL‐expressing CTCs in peripheral blood would be useful for deciding on therapeutic strategy. This evidence concerns the gene AXL and cancer.