Disposable Microfluidic Device Identifies Aggressive Breast Cancer

A disposable device based on advances in microfluidics may help identify advanced breast cancer patients who are candidates for therapy with the drug trastuzumab (Herceptin).

The device is designed to take advantage of the features of an organic silicone found in contact lenses and shampoos called polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), which is compatible with soft molding techniques, transparent, and permeable to gasses. The device is significantly easier and cheaper to make than the prior microfabricated one.

Scientists at the Ian Wark Research Institute at the University of South Australia (Mawson Lakes, Australia), designed the devise to overcome the lack of chemical reactivity, which is a major challenge associated with PDMS use in biodiagnostic applications. The team used a novel plasma-based polymerization process to surmount that problem. The process creates a durable polymeric layer on the device's surface containing a high number of reactive molecules, which can readily be used to attach proteins able to capture cancer cells, but not normal blood cells.

Aggressive breast cancers with poor prognosis typically have abnormal levels of the tyrosine kinase human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 protein (HER2). The new elastomeric, rubber-like device was designed to capture cancer cells over expressing HER2 in circulating blood efficiently. HER2 positive patients with early breast cancer have been found to benefit significantly from treatment with Herceptin or trastuzumab, the humanized monoclonal antibody against HER2, which can lower recurrence risk by about half.

Benjamin Thierry, Ph.D., senior author of the study, said, "Microfluidic-based devices offer a unique opportunity to efficiently isolate circulating tumor cells from patient's blood, thereby opening a window on the pathophysiology of cancer and its progression. We hope that our device will provide a fast, reliable, and affordable methodology to establish HER2 status for breast cancer patients presenting metastases, thereby enabling the selection of more potent therapy based on trastuzumab.” The study was published in September 2010, in the journal Biomicrofluidics.

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