Analytical chemistry, 2017, 01, 1155─1162, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.analchem.6b03534

FAST: Size-selective, clog-free isolation of rare cancer cells from whole blood at a liquid-liquid interface

Tae-Hyeong Kim, Minji Lim; Juhee Park; Jung Min Oh; Hyeongeun Kim; Hyunjin Jeong; Sun Ju Lee; Hee Chul Park; Sungmok Jung; Byung Chul Kim; Kyusang Lee; Mi-Hyun Kim; Do Youn Park; Gwang Ha Kim; Yoon-Kyoung Cho

Abstract

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) have great potential to provide minimally invasive ways for the early detection of cancer metastasis and for the response monitoring of various cancer treatments. Despite the clinical importance and progress of CTC-based cancer diagnostics, most of the current methods of enriching CTCs are difficult to implement in general hospital settings due to complex and timeconsuming protocols. Among existing technologies, sizebased isolation methods provide antibody-independent, relatively simple, and high throughput protocols. However, the clogging issues and lower than desired recovery rates and purity are the key challenges. In this work, inspired by antifouling membranes with liquid-filled pores in nature, clogfree, highly sensitive (95.9 ± 3.1% recovery rate), selective (>2.5 log depletion of white blood cells), rapid (>3 mL/min), and label-free isolation of viable CTCs from whole blood without prior sample treatment is achieved using a stand-alone lab-on-a-disc system equipped with fluid-assisted separation technology (FAST). Numerical simulation and experiments show that this method provides uniform, clog-free, ultrafast cell enrichment with pressure drops much less than in conventional size-based filtration, at 1 kPa.
We demonstrate the clinical utility of the point-of-care detection of CTCs with samples taken from 142 patients suffering from breast, stomach, or lung cancer.

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.analchem.6b03534
• ISBN or ISSN: 0003-2700

• 본 연구는 질병관리본부 연구개발과제(과제번호 2017-보건의료생물자원종합관리) 연구비를 지원받아 수행되었습니다.
• This research was supported by a fund(code 2017-보건의료생물자원종합관리) by Research of Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.