Microfluidic concentration and separation of circulating tumor cell clusters from large blood volumes.

ABSTRACT: Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are extremely rare in the blood, yet they account for metastasis. Notably, it was reported that CTC clusters (CTCCs) can be 50-100 times more metastatic than single CTCs, making them particularly salient as a liquid biopsy target. Yet they can split apart and are even rarer, complicating their recovery. Isolation by filtration risks loss when clusters squeeze through filter pores over time, and release of captured clusters can be difficult. Deterministic lateral displacement is continuous but requires channels not much larger than clusters, leading to clogging. Spiral inertial focusing requires large blood dilution factors (or lysis). Here, we report a microfluidic chip that continuously isolates untouched CTC clusters from large volumes of minimally (or undi

SUBMITTER: Edd JF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7469923 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature