Circulating tumour cells (CTCs) are a critical intermediate step in the process of cancer metastasis, which is responsible for 90% of cancer-associated deaths. The reliability of CTC isolation/purification has limited both the potential to report on metastatic progression and the development of CTCs as targets for therapeutic intervention. Representing as few as 1 cell in 100 white cells/10 mL of blood, there are inherent difficulties in isolating, characterising and ultimately culturing these tumour cells. The isolation and real-time monitoring of CTCs in cancer patients will improve early cancer detection, the monitoring of disease progression and therapeutic target selection, and will also enable real-time treatment response prediction and assessment of therapeutic efficacy. Several CTC isolation methods have been developed, including: Immunomagnetic capture methods (CellSearch, Adna test, and Isoflux system), Microfluidic enrichment technologies (chip-based technologies, ClearCell FX and Parsortix device), Chip Based Isolation Technologies (Herringbone microfluidic chip, Cluster Chip, and CTC iChip), Microfiltration and Size Based Isolation Technologies (ISET and ScreenCell) and RosetteSep (negative enrichment technique). The majority of these technologies, however, are associated with either non-sterile conditions or lengthy procedures that result in reduced viability of CTCs. It is imperative, therefore, to develop a multifunctional platform for the isolation of CTCs, integrated with high sensitivity, wide-spectrum capture, in-situ fluorescent identification, and cell-friendly release. The high degree of versatility in nano-scale materials, as well as their ability to conjugate with an ever-expanding range of antibodies/ligands, has led to their widespread application in almost every field of scientific research. Thus, we hypothesised that super magnetic Iron oxide nanomaterials could be functionalized with CTCs-specific antibodies and used to gently isolate CTCs. Thus, cells could be expanded in an ex-vivo method for further drug discovery and cancer therapeutic management.
