| More recently, detection of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) has been considered as an appealing prognostic and
diagnostic approach for cancer patients. CTCs as a type of tumor-derived cells are secreted by the tumor and
released into the blood circulation. Since the migration of CTCs is an early event in cancer progression, patients
who still have tumor-free lymph nodes have to be well examined for the CTCs presence in their blood circulation.
Nowadays, there is a broad range of detection methods available to identify CTCs. As artifcial RNA oligonucleotides or single-stranded DNA with receptor and catalytic characteristics, aptamers have been standing out,
owing to their target-induced conformational modifcations, elevated stability, and target specifcity to be
implemented in biosensing techniques. To date, several sensitivity-enhancement methods alongside smart
nanomaterials have been used for the creation of new aptasensors to address the limit of detection (LOD), and
improve the sensitivity of numerous analyte identifcation methods. The present review article supports a
focused overview of the recent studies in the identifcation and quantitative determination of CTCs by aptamerbased biosensors and nanobiosensors. |