Table 1.
Summary of nanotechnologies for CTC detection.
| Nanomaterial /Device |
Description | Affinity ligand | Efficiency % | Purity % | Viability % | Cancer type Metastatic (M) |
Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) | Ease of surface modification, controllable size, superparamagnetism and response to a magnetic field, high stability of surface chemistry, biocompatibility. | EpCAM | >94 | -- | 90.5 | Colon/liver /lung/breast |
159 |
| -- | >75 | -- | -- | -- | 160 | ||
| EpCAM/EGFR/HER2 | 90 | -- | -- | -- | 161 | ||
| Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) | Simple synthesis, ease of surface modification, unique spectral properties, thiolated aptamers can be modified on AuNP surfaces through Au-S bonds. | HER2 | -- | -- | -- | Breast | 85 |
| CD2/CD3 | -- | -- | -- | -- | 87 | ||
| Quantun dots (QDs) | Inherent fluorescence, controllable size, long fluorescence lifetime, tunable emission wavelengths. | EpCAM | 86 | -- | 70 | -- | 81 |
| EpCAM | 70-80 | 18-23 | -- | -- | 33 | ||
| Graphene oxides (GO) | High surface area-to-volume ratio, ease of surface modification, controllable size of its sheets, unique optical properties, biocompatibility. | EpCAM | 73 | -- | -- | Breast/lung /pancreatic |
31 |
| >40 | -- | 78 | -- | 92 | |||
| Carbon nanotubes | High surface area-to-volume ratio, good conductivity. | EpCAM | -- | -- | -- | Liver | 88 |
| Nanoroughened surfaces | The preference of cancer cells adhere to nanorough surfaces compared with normal blood cells. | -- | 80 | 14-84 | -- | -- | 29 |
| -- | 90 | -- | -- | -- | 28 | ||
| Si Nanopillars, (SiNP) | Similar size to nanoscale components of the cell surface (e.g., filopodia and microvilli), allowing for increased local topographic interactions. | EpCAM | >40 | -- | 84-91 | -- | 66 |
| EpCAM | >70 | -- | 90 | -- | 107 | ||
| Aptamer | >80 | >95 | 78-83 | NSCCL | 110 | ||
| Nanofibers | Ultralong nanofibers with controllable diameters that have similar dimensions with extracellular matrix (ECM) scaffolds and cell surface components. | EpCAM | 40-70 | -- | -- | Colorectal /gastric |
67 |
| CD146 | 87 | -- | -- | Melanoma | 120 | ||
| Herringbone- Chip (HBCTC-Chip/HB-chip) |
A microfluidic mixing device with patterned herringbones on their upper surface to disrupt the laminar flow streamlines that cells travel. The chaotic microvortices increase the interactions between antibody-modified chip surfaces and target CTCs. | EpCAM | 91.8 | 14 | 95 | M-prostate | 95 |
| -- | -- | -- | M-pancreatic | 139 | |||
| -- | -- | -- | Prostate | 141 | |||
| EpCAM/EGFR/HER2 | 80-90 | -- | -- | Breast | 150 | ||
| 75-95.9 | 78-90 | 85-90 | Breast/Lung | 122 | |||
| 80 | 53 | 90 | M-lung | 162 | |||
| -- | -- | -- | Breast/prostate | 3 | |||
| CSPG4/MCAM | >90 | 0.3 | -- | M-melanoma | 127 | ||
| MagSweeper | An immunomagnetic separation technology functionalized with a magnetic rod covered with a plastic sheath. Blood cells will be washed away by the movement of the magnetic rod and magnetic particles attached cells will be captured by a magnetic force produced by the magnetic rod. | EpCAM | >80 | 100 | -- | M-breast | 163 |
| >85 | -- | -- | M-prostate | 164 | |||
| -- | -- | 50 | Breast | 71 | |||
| MagSifter | A magnetic sifter device functionalized with a section of a patterned pore array. Magnetically labeled target cells are captured at the pore edges and unlabeled cells pass through the pores. | EpCAM | >91.4 | -- | -- | Lung | 99 |
| EpCAM | -- | -- | -- | Lung | 14 | ||
| Microchip- based immunomagnetic |
A microchip-based immunomagnetic separation that combines an immunomagnetic assay with a microfluidic device. | EpCAM | 86 | -- | -- | -- | 100 |
| EpCAM | 66 | -- | -- | Breast/prostate /lung |
165 | ||
| CTC-iChip | A microchip-based immunomagnetic device performed by positioning cells in a near-single file line and targeted cell can be precisely deflected using a minimal magnetic force. | EpCAM | 96.7 | >0.1 | -- | Prostate/breast /pancreas /colorectal/lung |
102 |
| Magnetic ranking cytometry (MagRC) | A microchip-based immunomagnetic separation with X-shaped structures within the microfluidic channel that generates regions with slow flow and can be accurate for the in-line profiles of CTCs at the single-cell level. | EpCAM | 90 | -- | -- | Prostate | 104 |