title: Micro- and nanotechnology approaches for capturing circulating tumor cells.
abstract: Circulating tumor cells (CTC) are cells that have detached from primary tumors and circulate in the bloodstream where they are carried to other organs, leading to seeding of new tumors and metastases. CTC have been known to exist in the bloodstream for more than a century. With recent progress in the area of micro- and nanotechnology, it has been possible to adopt new approaches in CTC research. Microscale and nanoscale studies can throw some light on the time course of CTC appearance in blood and CTC overexpression profiles for cancer-related markers and galvanize the development of drugs to block metastases. CTC counts could serve as endpoint biomarkers and as prognostic markers for patients with a metastatic disease. This paper reviews some of the recent researches on using micro- and nanotechnology to capture and profile CTC.
authors.affiliation: Small Systems Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40292 USA.
authors.forename: Balaji
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Panchapakesan
authors.affiliation: Small Systems Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40292 USA.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Caprara
authors.affiliation: Small Systems Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40292 USA.
authors.forename: Vanessa
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Velasco
authors.affiliation: Small Systems Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40292 USA.
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Loomis
authors.affiliation: Small Systems Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40292 USA.
authors.forename: Ben
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: King
authors.affiliation: Small Systems Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40292 USA.
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioengineering, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40292 USA.
authors.forename: Tom
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Burkhead
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioengineering, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40292 USA.
authors.forename: Palaniappan
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sethu
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40292 USA.
authors.forename: L Jay
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Stallons
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40292 USA.
authors.forename: W Glenn
authors.initials: WG
authors.lastname: McGregor
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioinformatics & Biostatistics and Biostatistics Shared Facility, James Graham Brown Cancer Center, 505 S. Hancock Street, Room 211, Louisville, KY 40202 USA.
authors.forename: Shesh N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Rai
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology and Oncology, James Graham Brown Cancer Center, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40292 USA.
authors.forename: Goetz
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kloecker
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Kimmel Cancer Center, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA 19107 USA.
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Wickstrom