Magnetically driven microfluidics for isolation of circulating tumor cells

Abstract

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) largely contribute to cancer metastasis and show potential prognostic significance in cancer isolation and detection. Miniaturization has progressed significantly in the last decade which in turn enabled the development of several microfluidic systems. The microfluidic systems offer a controlled microenvironment for studies of fundamental cell biology, resulting in the rapid development of microfluidic isolation of CTCs. Due to the inherent ability of magnets to provide forces at a distance, the technology of CTCs isolation based on the magnetophoresis mechanism has become a routine methodology. This historical review aims to introduce two principles of magnetic isolation and recent techniques, facilitating research in this field and providing alternatives for researchers in their study of magnetic isolation. Researchers intend to promote effective CTC isolation and analysis as well as active development of next‐generation cancer treatment. The first part of this review summarizes the primary principles based on positive and negative magnetophoretic isolation and describes the metrics for isolation performance. The second part presents a detailed overview of the factors that affect the performance of CTC magnetic isolation, including the magnetic field sources, functionalized magnetic nanoparticles, magnetic fluids, and magnetically driven microfluidic systems.

Integrated Microfluidic-Based Platforms for On-Site Detection and Quantification of Infectious Pathogens: Towards On-Site Medical Translation of SARS-CoV-2 Diagnostic Platforms

“…Due to the nature of centrifugation, such as moving parts in equipment and the requirement to achieve high rotational speeds, it is difficult to integrate this step into microfluidic devices. Hence, the focus has shifted to magnetic separation, also known as magnetophoresis, where cells are driven through microfluidic devices using magnetic forces [ 49 ]. This passive technique is used primarily by cell-sorting microfluidic devices that detect circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in whole blood, which are indicators of possible cancer metastasis but can also be applied to sample preparation steps [ 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 ].…”

Emerging Lab-on-a-Chip Approaches for Liquid Biopsy in Lung Cancer: Status in CTCs and ctDNA Research and Clinical Validation

“…Other methods based on acoustic, dielectrophoretic or magnetophoretic separation have also been reported [ 89 , 90 ]. Dielectrophoretic-based systems (DEP) can be an advantageous technique to gently isolate viable and intact CTCs and reduce the risk of clogging.…”

Nanoparticles: Promising Auxiliary Agents for Diagnosis and Therapy of Thyroid Cancers

“…These mutations can be detected in DNA extracted from peripheral blood, plasma, serum, circulating tumor cells, and circulating free DNA. Circulating tumor cells can be enriched from the blood of patients suffering from several common cancers (lung, liver, breast, prostate, and colon) with magnetic NPs [90]. Positive and negative magnetophoretic isolation is possible with tumor cells expressing epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM) as the most widely used antigen for positive selection and anti-CD45 for the depletion of white blood cells as a negative marker.…”