Tumor cell isolation in microfluidic devices for cancer treatment monitoring

This paper reports two microfluidic devices for isolating circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in blood samples of pancreatic cancer patients. These devices consist of micromixers or micropillars for enhancing the interactions between tumor cells and capture agents, which are immobilized onto the surfaces of microchannels and microfeatures. Both antibodies and aptamers, as well as their ensemble, have been explored for tumor cell isolation. The devices have been used for enumerating CTCs and we have correlated the CTC number with the anti-cancer treatment responses in a clinical trial.