Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) have received a great deal of scientific and clinical attention as a biomarker for diagnosis and prognosis of many types of cancer. Given their potential significance in clinics, a variety of detection methods, utilizing the recent advances in nanotechnology and microfluidics, have been introduced in an effort of achieving clinically significant detection of CTCs. However, effective detection and isolation of CTCs still remain a tremendous challenge due to their extreme rarity and phenotypic heterogeneity. Among many approaches that are currently under development, this review paper focuses on a unique, promising approach that takes advantages of naturally occurring processes achievable through application of nanotechnology to realize significant improvement in sensitivity and specificity of CTC capture. We provide an overview of successful outcome of this biomimetic CTC capture system in detection of tumor cells from in vitro, in vivo, and clinical pilot studies. We also emphasize the clinical impact of CTCs as biomarkers in cancer diagnosis and predictive prognosis, which provides a cost-effective, minimally invasive method that potentially replaces or supplements existing methods such as imaging technologies and solid tissue biopsy. In addition, their potential prognostic values as treatment guidelines and that ultimately help to realize personalized therapy are discussed.

循环肿瘤细胞（CTC）作为多种癌症诊断和预后的生物标志物受到了科学和临床的广泛关注。鉴于其在临床中的潜在重要性，利用纳米技术和微流体学的最新进展，已经引入了多种检测方法，以实现对 CTC 的临床显着检测。然而，由于 CTC 极其稀有和表型异质性，有效检测和分离 CTC 仍然是一个巨大的挑战。在目前正在开发的许多方法中，本文重点关注一种独特的、有前途的方法，该方法利用可通过应用纳米技术实现的自然发生过程，从而显着提高 CTC 捕获的灵敏度和特异性。我们概述了这种仿生 CTC 捕获系统在体外、体内和临床试点研究中检测肿瘤细胞的成功结果。我们还强调 CTC 作为生物标志物在癌症诊断和预测预后中的临床影响，它提供了一种具有成本效益的微创方法，有可能取代或补充现有方法，如成像技术和实体组织活检。此外，还讨论了它们作为治疗指南的潜在预后价值以及最终有助于实现个性化治疗的价值。