Circulating Tumor Cell (CTC) Enrichment
Liquid biopsy as a method to detect and isolate circulating tumor cells (CTCs) is showing incredible promise as a diagnostic technique. For this approach to reach its full potential, next-generation sample enrichment is critical to overcome longstanding headaches associated with existing benchtop instruments or technologies like magnetic bead-based separations.
A microbubble approach can not only provide outstanding purity, it is also an exceptionally gentle method of sample preparation that maintains cell health and physiology and eliminates barriers to scientific advancements.
Akadeum’s Microbubble Approach to CTC Enrichment via RBC Depletion
One way to reduce cell sorting time is to use Akadeum’s microbubbles to quickly and gently remove contaminating red blood cells (RBCs) while retaining the tumor cells of interest. This helps to maintain the viability and physiology of tumor cells to improve downstream research or diagnostics capabilities. Using microbubbles for RBC cleanup in this way provides an example of how Buoyancy Activated Cell Sorting (BACS™) can be incorporated into a CTC workflow.
An example of this was presented at the National Cancer Institute Meeting in 2021 through a Poster Presentation, demonstrating how microbubbles are a unique tool that enables positive and negative cell enrichment that is volume independent. Cell-based biomarker research can certainly benefit from simple sample cleanup that doesn’t create additional cellular stressors. (Download the Poster)
Additional Capabilities in CTC Enrichment: Red and White Blood Cell Removal
When performing liquid biopsy using a whole blood sample to identify and isolate CTCs, targeted depletion of both the red and white blood cells will significantly enrich the sample for the untouched CTCs of interest. While substantial RBC depletion can be accomplished using a lysis step or similar, the residual RBCs that survive this depletion will vastly outnumber the CTCs present in the sample.
With Akadeum’s microbubbles, depletion of both red and white blood cells can be easily achieved directly in the sample container to deliver a final sample that is highly enriched for CTCs. In fact, microbubbles can deliver greater than 99% depletion of both RBCs and WBCs, creating a nearly 70-fold enrichment of circulating tumor cells using an exceptionally gentle process that retains >99% of the target tumor cells. (Download the App Note)
Ready to Learn More? Download Related Resources.
To download the Poster from the National Cancer Institute Meeting or the App Note: Fast and Gentle Enrichment Protocol to Remove Red and White Blood Cell Contamination from Liquid Biopsy (CTC) and Rare Cell Detection Workflows, simply fill out the form below: