Circulating tumour cells: a broad perspective. Issue 168 (29th July 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Akpe, Victor; Kim, Tak H.; Brown, Christopher L.; Cock, Ian E.
• Is Part Of: Journal of the Royal Society interface. Volume 17:Issue 168(2020)
• Publication Date: 2020-07-29
• Subjects: circulating tumour cells -- circulating tumour clusters -- CellSearch -- enrichment platforms -- nanotheranostics -- microfluidics; Physical sciences -- Research -- Periodicals; Life sciences -- Research -- Periodicals; Interdisciplinary research -- Periodicals; 570.5
• DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2020.0065
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1742-5689

Abstract

Abstract : Circulating tumour cells (CTCs) have recently been identified as valuable biomarkers for diagnostic and prognostic evaluations, as well for monitoring therapeutic responses to treatments. CTCs are rare cells which may be present as one CTC surrounded by approximately 1 million white blood cells and 1 billion red blood cells per millilitre of peripheral blood. Despite the various challenges in CTC detection, considerable progress in detection methods have been documented in recent times, particularly for methodologies incorporating nanomaterial-based platforms and/or integrated microfluidics. Herein, we summarize the importance of CTCs as biological markers for tumour detection, highlight their mechanism of cellular invasion and discuss the various challenges associated with CTC research, including vulnerability, heterogeneity, phenotypicity and size differences. In addition, we describe nanomaterial agents used for electrochemistry and surface plasmon resonance applications, which have recently been used to selectively capture cancer cells and amplify signals for CTC detection. The intrinsic properties of nanomaterials have also recently been exploited to achieve photothermal destruction of cancer cells. This review describes recent advancements and future perspectives in the CTC field.