Identification and Drug Screening of Single Cells from Human Tumors on Semiconductor Chip for Cancer Precision...

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Oncology
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• Personalized cancer treatment relies on drug screening of primary tumor cells.
• Microfluidic platforms enable drug screening with limited biopsy samples.
• Distinguishing cancer cells from noncancerous cells is crucial for accurate drug screening.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop an integrated system for simultaneous single-cell identification and drug screening on a semiconductor chip.
• To enable dual evaluation of drug efficacy on cancer cells and toxicity on noncancerous cells.
• To validate the system's accuracy and consistency for precision medicine applications.

Main Methods:

• Integration of single-cell electric impedance sensing (IC-ECIS) on a semiconductor chip for cell identification.
• Utilizing ultra-weak signal detection for distinguishing cancer cells without affecting cell vitality.
• Performing on-chip drug screening and efficacy/toxicity evaluation, validated by off-chip experiments and exome sequencing.

Main Results:

• Single-cell identification accuracy of approximately 80% on cell lines, with diagnostic results consistent with clinical pathology for tumor tissues.
• Simultaneous evaluation of drug efficacy and toxicity on breast cancer models and clinical liver cancer patients.
• On-chip drug screening results showed consistency with genetic mutation analysis (exome sequencing).

Conclusions:

• The integrated semiconductor chip system enables accurate single-cell identification and simultaneous drug screening.
• This technology facilitates dual evaluation of drug efficacy and toxicity, crucial for personalized cancer therapy.
• The validated method supports precision medicine by aligning drug response with individual tumor genetics.