Table 1.

Current technologies for CTC enrichment and detection used in NSCLC. Abbreviations: EpCAM, epithelial cell adhesion molecule.

	Technology	Approach	Advantages	Disadvantages
EpCAM-based methods	CellSearch [27,28]	Anti-EpCAM antibodies	FDA-cleared in advanced breast, colon, prostate tumours	CTCs undergoing EMT may loss EpCAM expression and may not be detected
			Semiautomated	Identifies cell with high expression of EpCAM
	GILUPI Cell-collector [29]	Captures CTCs directly into peripheral vein	In vivo, fast processing of high peripheral blood volumes	More invasive for the patient than a simple blood draw
			The functional domain of the Cell-collector is coated with anti-EpCAM antibodies	Recovers only EpCAM+ CTCs
	Adnatest [30]	Anti-EpCAM antibodies	High purity rates	Recovers only EpCAM+ CTCs
				Cells are lysed
				Potential issues with antibody specificity
Marker-independent methods	Parsortix [31]	Microfluidic based on physical properties	Recovery of viable CTCs	Difficulty of removing the leukocytes of similar size to CTCs
			Ability to detect CTC clusters
			Detects EpCAM negative CTCs
	CanPatrol [32]	mRNA in situ analysis	Detects CTCs regardless of markers expression	Blood characteristics may negatively impact on analysis
	ISET [33]	Size-based filtration exclusion	Quick	Loss of CTCs when size is similar to white blood cells
			Nonselective	The identification of CTCs in the filter is complex and time-consuming