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Updated: Jun 3, 2025
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Clinical Microfluidic Chip Platform for the Isolation of Versatile Circulating Tumor Cells
Published on: October 13, 2023
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Advances in microfluidic platforms for tumor cell phenotyping: from bench to bedside
Rutwik Joshi1, Hesaneh Ahmadi1, Karl Gardner1
1Department of Chemical Engineering, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409, USA. wei.li@ttu.edu.
Lab on a Chip
|January 8, 2025
Summary
Microfluidic devices enable advanced liquid biopsies for cancer detection. These platforms isolate and profile circulating tumor cells (CTCs), crucial for personalized cancer therapies and understanding tumor heterogeneity.
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Biotechnology
- Microfluidics
Background:
- Tumor cell heterogeneity drives cancer progression and treatment resistance.
- Liquid biopsies and circulating tumor cell (CTC) isolation are key for cancer research.
- Microfluidics offers powerful tools for analyzing biological samples like blood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review microfluidic platforms for isolating and profiling circulating tumor cells (CTCs).
- To discuss the biophysical and biochemical characteristics of tumor cells and CTCs.
- To explore the clinical applications and future directions of microfluidic-based liquid biopsies.
Main Methods:
- Review of microfluidic techniques for CTC isolation and phenotyping.
- Classification of methods into biophysical (mechanical, electrical) and biochemical (antigen, metabolism, chemotaxis).
- Analysis of clinical studies utilizing these microfluidic platforms.
Main Results:
- Microfluidic platforms demonstrate significant potential for CTC isolation and characterization.
- Both biophysical and biochemical phenotyping methods offer insights into tumor heterogeneity.
- Clinical studies highlight the utility of these technologies in cancer diagnostics and prognostics.
Conclusions:
- Microfluidics is pivotal for advancing liquid biopsy applications in oncology.
- Comprehensive phenotyping of CTCs is essential for personalized cancer treatment strategies.
- Future developments in microfluidics will further enhance cancer detection and therapy.
