Abstract

Isolation and Multiplex Analysis of Tumor Cells and Tumor DNA From Body Fluids on a Chip

Lorena Dieguez, Staff Researcher, INL

Early dissemination of cancer is difficult to detect by traditional imaging and pathological methods. While the presence of cancer material in body fluids is well known, current techniques for the isolation, analysis and characterization of these biomarkers are not efficient enough to be fully applied in clinical routine.
In recent years, microfluidics has been widely reported for efficient isolation of CTCs and free nucleic acids. Moreover, microfluidics and microdroplets offer miniaturization, automation, high-throughput, and intrinsic reproducibility. Despite fluorescence has been the main detection technique integrated within microfluidics and microdroplets, SERS allows higher detection limits and offers much more information than fluorescence, as the Raman spectrum is the fingerprint of the analyte under study and allows multiplex detection.

In this talk, we present our work for isolation and multiplex analysis of cancer biomarkers from body fluids based on microfluidics, microdroplets and SERS. The present approach combines the device engineering for size isolation, with nanotechnology engineering and optical detection. The development of this platform encounters a remarkable advance towards personalized medicine, especially in the field of cancer research.