Circulating tumor cell isolation, culture, and downstream molecular analysis

Sandhya Sharma; Rachel Zhuang; Marisa Long; Mirjana Pavlovic; Yunqing Kang; Azhar Ilyas; Waseem Asghar

doi:10.1016/j.biotechadv.2018.03.007

Circulating tumor cell isolation, culture, and downstream molecular analysis

Biotechnol Adv. 2018 Jul-Aug;36(4):1063-1078. doi: 10.1016/j.biotechadv.2018.03.007. Epub 2018 Mar 17.

Authors

Sandhya Sharma¹, Rachel Zhuang², Marisa Long², Mirjana Pavlovic³, Yunqing Kang⁴, Azhar Ilyas⁵, Waseem Asghar⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Computer & Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL 33431, USA; Asghar-Lab, Micro and Nanotechnology in Medicine, College of Engineering and Computer Science, Boca Raton, FL 33431, USA.
² Asghar-Lab, Micro and Nanotechnology in Medicine, College of Engineering and Computer Science, Boca Raton, FL 33431, USA.
³ Department of Computer & Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL 33431, USA.
⁴ Department of Ocean & Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering and Computer Science, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL 33431, USA; Department of Biomedical Science, College of Medicine, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL 33431, USA.
⁵ Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, New York Institute of Technology, Old Westbury, NY 11568, USA.
⁶ Department of Computer & Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL 33431, USA; Asghar-Lab, Micro and Nanotechnology in Medicine, College of Engineering and Computer Science, Boca Raton, FL 33431, USA; Department of Biological Sciences, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL 33431, USA. Electronic address: wasghar@fau.edu.

Abstract

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are a major contributor of cancer metastases and hold a promising prognostic significance in cancer detection. Performing functional and molecular characterization of CTCs provides an in-depth knowledge about this lethal disease. Researchers are making efforts to design devices and develop assays for enumeration of CTCs with a high capture and detection efficiency from whole blood of cancer patients. The existing and on-going research on CTC isolation methods has revealed cell characteristics which are helpful in cancer monitoring and designing of targeted cancer treatments. In this review paper, a brief summary of existing CTC isolation methods is presented. We also discuss methods of detaching CTC from functionalized surfaces (functional assays/devices) and their further use for ex-vivo culturing that aid in studies regarding molecular properties that encourage metastatic seeding. In the clinical applications section, we discuss a number of cases that CTCs can play a key role for monitoring metastases, drug treatment response, and heterogeneity profiling regarding biomarkers and gene expression studies that bring treatment design further towards personalized medicine.

Keywords: Cell enrichment; Circulating tumor cells (CTCs); Liquid biopsy; Personalized therapies; Point of care.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Animals
Cell Separation / methods*
Humans
Liquid Biopsy
Mice
Molecular Diagnostic Techniques
Neoplastic Cells, Circulating*
Point-of-Care Systems
Precision Medicine

Grants and funding

R15 AI127214/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/United States