CTCs capture and isolation

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) represent the primary cause of intractable metastatic disease and are considered essential for metastasis formation. However, characterization of CTCs that induce metastasis remains elusive because platforms that capture CTCs are not comprehensive, owing to the phenotypic heterogeneity of CTCs.
For example, the Veridex CellSearch platform—the only test approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)—relies on the use of antibodies targeting the (...)

Open references
Nagrath S, Sequist LV, Maheswaran S, Bell DW, Irimia D, Ulkus L, Smith MR, Kwak EL, Digumarthy S, Muzikansky A, et al. Isolation of rare circulating tumour cells in cancer patients by microchip technology. Nature. 2007;450:1235–1239. [PMC free article] [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18097410]
The authors describe microfluidics-based capture of CTCs on a silicon-chip lined with microposts. The technology demonstrates efficient capture of CTCs from several types of (...)

CTCs are infrequent and appear at an estimated level of one against the background of millions (106–107) of surrounding normal peripheral mononuclear blood cells (PBMCs) (Alix-Panabieres et al, 2012). The occurrence rate might even be lower in cancer patients without obvious metastases (Rink et al, 2012; Rack et al, 2014).
Hence, selective enrichment of tumor cells and/or systematic removal of PBMCs and red blood cells (RBCs) is required to detect CTCs in the blood of a cancer patient.
To (...)

Isolation of circulating tumor cells by immunomagnetic enrichment and fluorescence-activated cell sorting (IE/FACS)
References
Isolation of circulating tumor cells by immunomagnetic enrichment and fluorescence-activated cell sorting (IE/FACS) for molecular profiling. Magbanua MJ, Park JW. Methods. 2013 Jul 26. doi:S1046-2023(13)00278-8. 10.1016/j.ymeth.2013.07.029 . PMID: (...)