Immunomagnetic separation of circulating tumor cells with microfluidic chips and their clinical applications

Hongmei Chen; Yong Li; Zhifeng Zhang; Shuangshou Wang

doi:10.1063/5.0005373

Immunomagnetic separation of circulating tumor cells with microfluidic chips and their clinical applications

Biomicrofluidics. 2020 Aug 19;14(4):041502. doi: 10.1063/5.0005373. eCollection 2020 Jul.

Authors

Hongmei Chen¹, Yong Li¹, Zhifeng Zhang², Shuangshou Wang³

Affiliations

¹ School of Mathematics and Physics of Science and Engineering, Anhui University of Technology, Maanshan 243002, China.
² Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics, The Pennsylvania State University, State College, Pennsylvania 16802, USA.
³ School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Anhui University of Technology, Maanshan 243002, China.

Abstract

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are tumor cells detached from the original lesion and getting into the blood and lymphatic circulation systems. They potentially establish new tumors in remote areas, namely, metastasis. Isolation of CTCs and following biological molecular analysis facilitate investigating cancer and coming out treatment. Since CTCs carry important information on the primary tumor, they are vital in exploring the mechanism of cancer, metastasis, and diagnosis. However, CTCs are very difficult to separate due to their extreme heterogeneity and rarity in blood. Recently, advanced technologies, such as nanosurfaces, quantum dots, and Raman spectroscopy, have been integrated with microfluidic chips. These achievements enable the next generation isolation technologies and subsequent biological analysis of CTCs. In this review, we summarize CTCs' separation with microfluidic chips based on the principle of immunomagnetic isolation of CTCs. Fundamental insights, clinical applications, and potential future directions are discussed.

Publication types

Review