Abstract

Microfluidics for Cancer Detection and Diagnosis

Chwee Teck Lim, Provost’s Chair Professor, National University of Singapore

The presence and frequency of Circulating Tumor Cells (CTCs) in bloodstream of patients with epithelial cancers is an important intermediate step in cancer metastasis and can provide valuable insights into disease stage and treatment evaluations. As compared to obtaining tissue biopsy which is invasive and painful, ‘‘liquid biopsy’’ for CTCs detection can be carried out in patients due to ease of blood collection. The presence and number of CTCs in peripheral blood has been associated with the severity of the disease and have potential use for early detection, diagnosis, prognosis and treatment monitoring purposes. The isolation of CTCs using microfluidics is attractive as the flow conditions can be accurately manipulated to achieve an efficient separation. Here, we demonstrate several effective separation methods by utilizing the unique differences in size and deformability of cancer cells from that of blood cells. By exploiting the fluid dynamics in specially designed microfluidic channels, CTCs which are generally stiffer and larger are physically separated from the more deformable blood constituents. Using this approach, we are able to retrieve viable CTCs. With blood specimens from cancer patients, we confirmed the successful detection, isolation and retrieval of CTCs. Identification of CTCs will aid in the detection of malignancy and disease.