Glass Filters to Separate Tumor Cells in Blood Tests Can Speed Up Cancer Diagnosis
|
By LabMedica International staff writers Posted on 04 May 2023 |
|
Early diagnosis is crucial for effective cancer treatment, as even brief delays can impact patient health and longevity. One promising approach involves detecting circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) released by tumors into blood samples. Analyzing these cells can provide direct information about cancer and predict disease progression in its early stages. However, the number of CTCs in cancer patients' blood is extremely low, necessitating improvements in capture and culture efficiency. Although glass is commonly used for cell culturing in laboratories, its application in CTC culturing has been underexplored. Researchers have now identified the optimal dimensions of glass filters for capturing CTCs and CAFs, demonstrating their ability to detect cells from lung cancer patients.
Researchers from Nagoya University (Nagoya, Japan) employed a unique method to visualize and capture cells on glass filters, which could lead to more efficient tumor cell culturing and improved cancer detection. They developed glass filters with various shapes and dimensions to determine which best captured CTCs and CAFs from lung cancer patients. Additionally, they created a system called FROG-CHIP to visualize the CTCs and CAFs captured on the glass filters. The researchers discovered that the most effective patterns for capturing CTCs, while allowing white blood cells to pass through, consisted of a circular pattern with a pitch of 20 micrometers and a diameter of eight micrometers. These dimensions provided high capture efficiency without retaining a significant number of white blood cells.
"These results suggest that our glass filters are useful as a tool for the early diagnosis of tumors," said Professor Tanaka of the Center for Low-Temperature Plasma Sciences. "Our findings would be useful at hospitals, clinics, and diagnostic testing companies to speed up cancer diagnosis."
Related Links:
Nagoya University
Latest Pathology News
- Spit Test More Accurate at Identifying Future Prostate Cancer Risk
- DNA Nanotechnology Boosts Sensitivity of Test Strips
- Novel UV and Machine Learning-Aided Method Detects Microbial Contamination in Cell Cultures
- New Error-Corrected Method to Help Detect Cancer from Blood Samples Alone
- "Metal Detector" Algorithm Hunts Down Vulnerable Tumors
- Novel Technique Uses ‘Sugar’ Signatures to Identify and Classify Pancreatic Cancer Cell Subtypes
- Advanced Imaging Reveals Mechanisms Causing Autoimmune Disease
- AI Model Effectively Predicts Patient Outcomes in Common Lung Cancer Type
- AI Model Predicts Patient Response to Bladder Cancer Treatment
- New Laser-Based Method to Accelerate Cancer Diagnosis
- New AI Model Predicts Gene Variants’ Effects on Specific Diseases
- Powerful AI Tool Diagnoses Coeliac Disease from Biopsy Images with Over 97% Accuracy
- Pre-Analytical Conditions Influence Cell-Free MicroRNA Stability in Blood Plasma Samples
- 3D Cell Culture System Could Revolutionize Cancer Diagnostics
- Painless Technique Measures Glucose Concentrations in Solution and Tissue Via Sound Waves
- Skin-Based Test to Improve Diagnosis of Rare, Debilitating Neurodegenerative Disease
Channels
Clinical Chemistry
view channel
‘Brilliantly Luminous’ Nanoscale Chemical Tool to Improve Disease Detection
Thousands of commercially available glowing molecules known as fluorophores are commonly used in medical imaging, disease detection, biomarker tagging, and chemical analysis. They are also integral in... Read more
Low-Cost Portable Screening Test to Transform Kidney Disease Detection
Millions of individuals suffer from kidney disease, which often remains undiagnosed until it has reached a critical stage. This silent epidemic not only diminishes the quality of life for those affected... Read more
New Method Uses Pulsed Infrared Light to Find Cancer's 'Fingerprints' In Blood Plasma
Cancer diagnoses have traditionally relied on invasive or time-consuming procedures like tissue biopsies. Now, new research published in ACS Central Science introduces a method that utilizes pulsed infrared... Read more
Hematology
view channel
New Scoring System Predicts Risk of Developing Cancer from Common Blood Disorder
Clonal cytopenia of undetermined significance (CCUS) is a blood disorder commonly found in older adults, characterized by mutations in blood cells and a low blood count, but without any obvious cause or... Read more
Non-Invasive Prenatal Test for Fetal RhD Status Demonstrates 100% Accuracy
In the United States, approximately 15% of pregnant individuals are RhD-negative. However, in about 40% of these cases, the fetus is also RhD-negative, making the administration of RhoGAM unnecessary.... Read more
Immunology
view channel
Stem Cell Test Predicts Treatment Outcome for Patients with Platinum-Resistant Ovarian Cancer
Epithelial ovarian cancer frequently responds to chemotherapy initially, but eventually, the tumor develops resistance to the therapy, leading to regrowth. This resistance is partially due to the activation... Read more
Machine Learning-Enabled Blood Test Predicts Immunotherapy Response in Lymphoma Patients
Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy has emerged as one of the most promising recent developments in the treatment of blood cancers. However, over half of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) patients... Read more
Microbiology
view channel
Handheld Device Delivers Low-Cost TB Results in Less Than One Hour
Tuberculosis (TB) remains the deadliest infectious disease globally, affecting an estimated 10 million people annually. In 2021, about 4.2 million TB cases went undiagnosed or unreported, mainly due to... Read more
New AI-Based Method Improves Diagnosis of Drug-Resistant Infections
Drug-resistant infections, particularly those caused by deadly bacteria like tuberculosis and staphylococcus, are rapidly emerging as a global health emergency. These infections are more difficult to treat,... Read more
Breakthrough Diagnostic Technology Identifies Bacterial Infections with Almost 100% Accuracy within Three Hours
Rapid and precise identification of pathogenic microbes in patient samples is essential for the effective treatment of acute infectious diseases, such as sepsis. The fluorescence in situ hybridization... Read more
Pathology
view channel
Spit Test More Accurate at Identifying Future Prostate Cancer Risk
Currently, blood tests that measure the level of a protein called prostate-specific antigen (PSA) are commonly used to identify men at higher risk for prostate cancer. This test is typically used based... Read more
DNA Nanotechnology Boosts Sensitivity of Test Strips
Since the Covid-19 pandemic, most people have become familiar with paper-based rapid test strips, also known as lateral flow immunoassays (LFIAs). These tests are used to quickly detect biomarkers that... Read more
Novel UV and Machine Learning-Aided Method Detects Microbial Contamination in Cell Cultures
Cell therapy holds great potential in treating diseases such as cancers, inflammatory conditions, and chronic degenerative disorders by manipulating or replacing cells to restore function or combat disease.... Read more
Technology
view channel
Disposable Microchip Technology Could Selectively Detect HIV in Whole Blood Samples
As of the end of 2023, approximately 40 million people globally were living with HIV, and around 630,000 individuals died from AIDS-related illnesses that same year. Despite a substantial decline in deaths... Read more
Pain-On-A-Chip Microfluidic Device Determines Types of Chronic Pain from Blood Samples
Chronic pain is a widespread condition that remains difficult to manage, and existing clinical methods for its treatment rely largely on self-reporting, which can be subjective and especially problematic... Read more
Innovative, Label-Free Ratiometric Fluorosensor Enables More Sensitive Viral RNA Detection
Viruses present a major global health risk, as demonstrated by recent pandemics, making early detection and identification essential for preventing new outbreaks. While traditional detection methods are... Read more
Industry
view channel
Cepheid and Oxford Nanopore Technologies Partner on Advancing Automated Sequencing-Based Solutions
Cepheid (Sunnyvale, CA, USA), a leading molecular diagnostics company, and Oxford Nanopore Technologies (Oxford, UK), the company behind a new generation of sequencing-based molecular analysis technologies,... Read more
Grifols and Tecan’s IBL Collaborate on Advanced Biomarker Panels
Grifols (Barcelona, Spain), one of the world’s leading producers of plasma-derived medicines and innovative diagnostic solutions, is expanding its offer in clinical diagnostics through a strategic partnership... Read more
