Isolation of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from blood samples has important prognostic and therapeutic implications for cancer treatments but the process is very challenging due to the low concentration of CTCs. In this study, we report a novel 3D printed microfluidic device functionalized with anti-EpCAM (epithelial cell adhesion molecule) antibodies to isolate CTCs from human blood samples. A multi-jet 3D printing technology is utilized with specially designed interior structures to enabe high surface area and fluid flow manipulation to increase the capture efficiency of tumor cells. Devices with the optimal flow rate (1 mL hour-1) and channel length (2 cm) are fabricated to test three kinds of EpCAM postive cancer cell lines (MCF-7 breast cancer, SW480 colon cancer, and PC3 prostate cancer), and one kind of EpCAM negative cancer cell line (293T kidney cancer). Experimentally, the capture efficiency higher than 90% has been achieved and CTCs from spiked human blood samples have also been demonstrated.
Project end date: 01/22/19