TY - JOUR T1 - Microfluidic approaches for cancer cell detection, characterization, and separation A1 - Chen, Jian A1 - Li, Jason A1 - Sun, Yu Y1 - 2012 SP - 1753 EP - 1767 JF - Lab on a Chip JO - Lab Chip VL - 12 IS - 10 PB - The Royal Society of Chemistry SN - 1473-0197 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/C2LC21273K N2 - This article reviews the recent developments in microfluidic technologies for in vitro cancer diagnosis. We summarize the working principles and experimental results of key microfluidic platforms for cancer cell detection, characterization, and separation based on cell-affinity micro-chromatography, magnetic activated micro-sorting, and cellular biophysics (e.g., cell size and mechanical and electrical properties). We examine the advantages and limitations of each technique and discuss future research opportunities for improving device throughput and purity, and for enabling on-chip analysis of captured cancer cells. ER -