The design of a microfluidic lab-on-a-chip system for point-of-care cancer screening and diagnosis of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is presented. The chip is based on determining a approximately 30-gene transcription profile in cancer cells isolated from oral fluid samples. Microfluidic cell sorting using magnetic beads functionalized with an antibody against cancer-specific cell-surface antigens (e.g., epithelial cell adhesion molecule [EpCAM]) is described. A comprehensive cancer diagnostics chip will integrate microfluidic components for cell lysis, nucleic acid extraction, and amplification and detection of a panel of mRNA isolated from a subpopulation of cancer cells contained in a clinical specimen.