Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 10, 2026
05:58
Clinical Microfluidic Chip Platform for the Isolation of Versatile Circulating Tumor Cells
Published on: October 13, 2023
A negative selection methodology using a microfluidic platform for the isolation and enumeration of circulating tumor
Benjamin P Casavant1, Rachel Mosher, Jay W Warrick
1Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Wisconsin - Madison, Madison, WI, USA.
Methods (San Diego, Calif.)
|June 29, 2013
Summary
A novel Microfluidic Cell Concentrator (MCC) effectively captures rare circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from blood for analysis. This negative selection method enables functional studies and broad applicability across cancer types.
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Biotechnology
- Microfluidics
Background:
- Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are rare (1 CTC/billion cells) in metastatic cancer patients' blood.
- Existing CTC capture methods often hinder downstream functional analysis due to cell adhesion or labeling requirements.
Purpose of the Study:
- To present a negative selection method using a Microfluidic Cell Concentrator (MCC) for efficient CTC capture and analysis.
- To enable functional downstream analyses of CTCs without compromising cell viability or function.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a Microfluidic Cell Concentrator (MCC) for negative selection of CTCs, avoiding cell adhesion or labeling.
- Applied parallel staining techniques to collected CTC populations for comprehensive analysis.
- Demonstrated patient sample processing for CTC enumeration.
Main Results:
- The MCC method successfully processed five patient samples, yielding an average of 0.31 CTCs/mL.
- CTC levels detected by MCC were comparable to the established ELISPOT method.
- The negative selection approach proved effective for CTC enumeration.
Conclusions:
- The MCC offers a versatile platform for CTC isolation and analysis, suitable for various tumor types.
- This method overcomes limitations of existing techniques by preserving CTC function for downstream assays.
- The MCC facilitates non-adherent cell population analysis, enhancing CTC research capabilities.
