Table 1.

Main methods for isolating single cells

	Advantage	Disadvantage	Throughput	Effciency	Price	Ref
Limiting dilution	Simple	Time-consuming, easy to pollute	Low	Low	Low	[9]
Microdroplets	convenient	High cost	high	high	high	[8]
Micromanipulation	Visual, High success Rate	High technical requirements for operators, possible pollution	Low	Low	Low	[9]
FACS	Wide application、Can sort tumor cells with complex molecular markers, Technical maturity, Standard unification	Damage to cells, requaire large initial cell count	High	High	Low	[10]
Microfluidcis	High degree of automation, reduced pollutants, low sample consumption	High cost	High	High	High	[11]
LCM	Spatiality fast	Easy to destory cells, accuracy is poor	low	low	High	[12]