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Updated: Jan 29, 2026

Clinical Microfluidic Chip Platform for the Isolation of Versatile Circulating Tumor Cells
Published on: October 13, 2023
Advances in isolation and detection of circulating tumor cells based on microfluidics
1Institute of Nano Biomedicine and Engineering, Shanghai Engineering Research Center for Intelligent Instrument for Diagnosis and Therapy, Department of Instrument Science & Engineering, School of Electronic Information and Electrical Engineering, National Center for Translational Medicine, Collaborative Innovational Center for System Biology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China.
Abstract:
Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are the cancer cells that circulate in the peripheral blood after escaping from the original or metastatic tumors. CTCs could be used as non-invasive source of clinical information in early diagnosis of cancer and evaluation of cancer development. In recent years, CTC research has become a hotspot field wherein many novel CTC detection technologies based on microfluidics have been developed. Great advances have been made that exhibit obvious technical advantages, but cannot yet satisfy the current clinical requirements. In this study, we review the main advances in isolation and detection methods of CTC based on microfluidics research over several years, propose five technical indicators for evaluating these methods, and explore the application prospects. We also discuss the concepts, issues, approaches, advantages, limitations, and challenges with an aim of stimulating a broader interest in developing microfluidics-based CTC detection technology.
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