Sensitive and specific detection of circulating tumor cells promotes precision medicine for cancer

Abstract

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) have the potential to provide genetic information for heterogeneous tumors, which may be useful for monitoring disease progression and developing personalized therapies. However, the isolation of CTCs for molecular analysis is challenging due to their extreme rarity and phenotypic heterogeneity, which hinders the transformation of CTCs into traditional clinical applications. In order to achieve clinically significant CTC detection, devices utilizing novel microfluidics and nanotechnology have been developed to achieve high sensitivity and specificity capture of CTCs. In this review, we discuss these newly developed devices for CTC capture and molecular characterization for early diagnosis and determining ideal treatment regimen to better manage these cancers clinically. In addition, the potential prognostic values of CTCs as treatment guidelines and that ultimately contribute to realize personalized treatment are also discussed.