Nano-Velcro for CTCs
4 Apr 2011 by Evoluted New Media
A Velcro-like nanoscale device capable of capturing marauding tumour cells from metastatic cancers has been developed by researchers at UCLA.
A Velcro-like nanoscale device capable of capturing marauding tumour cells from metastatic cancers has been developed by researchers at UCLA.
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An integrated chip for detecting circulating tumor cells in blood collected from prostate cancer patients. (Image credit: Dr. Libi Zhao and Xiaowen Xu) |
The device – a 2.5 by 5cm microfluidic chip – builds on the ‘fly-paper’ technology the team developed in 2009, and could allow doctors to perform a liquid biopsy. This would mean earlier detection and diagnosis, as well as improved monitoring of cancer progression and treatment responses.
The nano-Velcro technology consists of a nanopillar-covered silicon chip with an overlaid microfluidic channel which creates a flow path and increases mixing. The chip’s stickiness results from the interaction between the nanopillars and microvilli on the circulating tumour cells (CTCs).
“The cells bounce up and down inside the channel and get slammed against the surface and get caught,” said Dr Clifton Shen.
Determining the disease status of tumours currently involves an invasive biopsy of tumour samples, but in the early stages of metastasis it can be hard to find a good biopsy site. The new nanochip could be cheaper and faster, and captures more CTCs than other methods.
CTCs are breakaway tumour cells which leave the primary tumour and travel through the blood stream to set up colonies in other parts of the body.
Researchers showed their device was capable of highly efficient enrichment of rare CTCs captured in blood samples collected from prostate cancer patients.
“This new CTC technology has the potential to be a powerful new tool for cancer researchers, allowing them to study cancer evolution by comparing CTCs with the primary tumour and the distant metastases that are most often lethal,” said Dr Kumaran Duraiswamy.
“When it reaches the clinic in the future, this CTC-analysis technology could help bring truly personalised cancer treatment and management.”
The new approach is more user-friendly than its first-generation counterpart, and features a semi-automated interface that improves on the earlier device’s purely manual operation.
