The in vivo flow cytometry is an emerging tool to monitor circulating tumor
cells (CTCs) in vivo. As a non-invasive method, the in vivo flow cytometry allows
long-term monitoring of CTCs without changing their native biological environment. It
has been applied for monitoring CTC dynamics in extensive biomedical researches on
cancer therapy. In this chapter, the principles of fluorescence based and photoacoustic
based in vivo flow cytometry are introduced. A number of studies concerning basic
research in cancer therapy with in vivo flow cytometry are reviewed. Potential
applications and disadvantages of in vivo flow cytometry in cancer therapy are also
discussed.
Keywords: Cancer metastasis, Circulating tumor cells, Coherent Raman scattering,
Fluorescence detection, in vivo flow cytometry, Liver cancer, Melanoma,
Optical tweezers, Photoacoustic detection, Tumor resection, Tumor prognosis.
