Microfluidic-Based Technologies for CTC Isolation: A Review of 10 Years of Intense Efforts Towards Liquid Biopsy

Overview

Journal Int J Mol Sci

Publisher MDPI

Specialties Biochemistry
Chemistry
Molecular Biology

Date 2022 Feb 26

PMID 35216097

Authors

Lucie Descamps

Damien Le Roy

Anne-Laure Deman

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The selection of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) directly from blood as a real-time liquid biopsy has received increasing attention over the past ten years, and further analysis of these cells may greatly aid in both research and clinical applications. CTC analysis could advance understandings of metastatic cascade, tumor evolution, and patient heterogeneity, as well as drug resistance. Until now, the rarity and heterogeneity of CTCs have been technical challenges to their wider use in clinical studies, but microfluidic-based isolation technologies have emerged as promising tools to address these limitations. This review provides a detailed overview of latest and leading microfluidic devices implemented for CTC isolation. In particular, this study details must-have device performances and highlights the tradeoff between recovery and purity. Finally, the review gives a report of CTC potential clinical applications that can be conducted after CTC isolation. Widespread microfluidic devices, which aim to support liquid-biopsy-based applications, will represent a paradigm shift for cancer clinical care in the near future.

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