In a pilot clinical testing of 20 patients (NSCLC and HCC), enriched fractions enabled immunofluorescence identification of CK<sup>+</sup>CD45<sup>-</sup>DAPI<sup>+</sup> CTCs, with an exploratory trend of increasing CTC counts with advanced disease stage (4-34 cells·mL<sup>-1</sup>). The gene discussed is PTPRC; the disease is hepatocellular carcinoma.