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Huang et al. J Cancer Metastasis Treat 2019;5:34 Journal of Cancer
DOI: 10.20517/2394-4722.2018.94 Metastasis and Treatment

Review Open Access

Sensitive and specific detection of circulating tumor
cells promotes precision medicine for cancer

Qin-Qin Huang , Xing-Xiang Chen , Wei Jiang , Shui-Ling Jin , Xing-Yu Wang , Wei Liu , Shi-Shang Guo ,
6
6
4
5
3
1,2
1
Jian-Cheng Guo , Xing-Zhong Zhao 6
1,2
1 Department of Otolaryngology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450014, China.
2 Center for Precision Medicine of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450052, China.
3 Division of Life Science, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
4 Department of oncology, the first affiliated hospital of Zhengzhou university, Zhengzhou 450052, China.
5 Faculty of Health Science, University of Macau, Avenida da Universidade, Taipa, Macau, China.
6 Key Laboratory of Artificial Micro- and Nano-Structures of Ministry of Education, School of Physics and Technology, Wuhan
University, Wuhan 430072, China.
Correspondence to: Dr. Qin-Qin Huang and Prof. Jian-Cheng Guo, Department of Otolaryngology, The Second Affiliated Hospital
of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450014, China; Center for Precision Medicine of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou
450052, China. E-mail: qqhuang@zzu.edu.cn; gjc@zzu.edu.cn; Prof. Xing-Zhong Zhao, Key Laboratory of Artificial Micro- and
Nano-Structures of Ministry of Education, School of Physics and Technology, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China.
E-mail: xzzhao@whu.edu.cn
How to cite this article: Huang QQ, Chen XX, Jiang W, Jin SL, Wang XY, Liu W, Guo SS, Guo JC, Zhao XZ. Sensitive and specific
detection of circulating tumor cells promotes precision medicine for cancer. J Cancer Metastasis Treat 2019;5:34.
http://dx.doi.org/10.20517/2394-4722.2018.94

Received: 9 Dec 2018 First Decision: 8 Mar 2019 Revised: 18 Mar 2019 Accepted: 22 Mar 2019 Published: 21 Apr 2019

Science Editor: Bing-Liang Fang Copy Editor: Cai-Hong Wang Production Editor: Huan-Liang Wu

Abstract
Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) have the potential to provide genetic information for heterogeneous tumors, which
may be useful for monitoring disease progression and developing personalized therapies. However, the isolation of
CTCs for molecular analysis is challenging due to their extreme rarity and phenotypic heterogeneity, which hinders the
transformation of CTCs into traditional clinical applications. In order to achieve clinically significant CTC detection,
devices utilizing novel microfluidics and nanotechnology have been developed to achieve high sensitivity and
specificity capture of CTCs. In this review, we discuss these newly developed devices for CTC capture and molecular
characterization for early diagnosis and determining ideal treatment regimen to better manage these cancers clinically.
In addition, the potential prognostic values of CTCs as treatment guidelines and that ultimately contribute to realize
personalized treatment are also discussed.

Keywords: Circulating tumor cells, sensitivity, treatment, precision medicine

© The Author(s) 2019. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use,
sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, for any purpose, even commercially, as long
as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license,
and indicate if changes were made.

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