CIRCULATING TUMOR CELL (CTC) ENRICHMENT : ULTRA HIGH THROUGHPUT PROCESSING OF CLINICALLY RELEVANT BLOOD VOLUMES USING A MULTIPLEXED SPIRAL BIOCHIP

Detection and characterization of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from minimally invasive "liquid biopsy" provides critical insights into tumor biology and is critical for companion diagnostics and care. Here, we present a multiplexed spiral biochip for ultra-high throughput isolation of CTCs using inertial microfluidics to realize a single step label-free enrichment process. This device is capable of efficient cell separation of clinically relevant blood volumes in a short period of time (7.5 mL blood in 35 min). CTCs were successfully detected and isolated from 100% (50/50) blood samples collected from patients with advanced stage metastatic breast and lung cancer. They were identified under immunofluorescence assays (cytokeratin positive), as well as molecular probes (EGFR or HER2 positive). CTC recovery rate ranges from 3-1535 CTCs/mL and obtained under high purity (1 CTC for every 30-100 white blood cells detected). Retrieved cells are unlabelled and hence more viable for propagation, drug development and other downstream analysis.