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From Exosomes to Circulating Tumor Cells: Using Microfluidics to Detect High Predictive Cancer Biomarkers

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Microfluidics and Biosensors in Cancer Research

Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ((AEMB,volume 1379))

Abstract

Early cancer screening and effective diagnosis is the most effective form to diminish the number of cancer-related deaths. Liquid biopsy constitutes an attractive alternative to tumor biopsy due to its non-invasive nature and sample accessibility, which permits effective screening and patient monitoring. Within the plethora of biomarkers present in circulation, liquid biopsy has mainly been performed by analyzing circulating tumor cells, and more recently, extracellular vesicles. Tracking these biological particles could provide valuable insights into cancer origin, progression, treatment efficacy, and patient prognosis. Microfluidic devices have emerged as viable solutions for point-of-care cancer screening and monitoring due to their user-friendly operation, low operation costs, and capability of processing, quantifying, and analyzing these bioparticles in a single device. However, the size difference between cells and exosomes (micrometer vs nanometer) requires an adaptation of microfluidic isolation approaches, particularly in label-free methodologies governed by particle and fluid mechanics. This chapter will explore the theory behind particle isolation and sorting in different microfluidic techniques necessary to guide researchers into the design and development of such devices.

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Acknowledgements

D.C. acknowledges the financial support from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the program CEEC Individual 2017 (CEECIND/00352/2017). C.M.A, S.C.K, and D.C. also thank the support from the FCT under the scope of the projects 2MATCH (PTDC/BTM-ORG/28070/2017) and BREAST-IT (PTDC/BTM-ORG/28168/2017) funded by the Programa Operacional Regional do Norte supported by European Regional Development Funds (ERDF). The authors also thank the financial support from the European Union Framework Program for Research and Innovation Horizon 2020 on the FoReCaST project under (Grant Number: 668983).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. 3B’s Research Group, I3Bs—Research Institute on Biomaterials, Biodegradables and Biomimetics, University of Minho, Headquarters of the European Institute of Excellence on Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, AvePark, Parque de Ciência e Tecnologia, Zona Industrial da Gandra, Barco, Guimarães, Portugal

    Catarina M. Abreu, David Caballero, Subhas C. Kundu & Rui L. Reis

  2. ICVS/3B’s–PT Government Associate Laboratory, Braga/Guimarães, Portugal

    Catarina M. Abreu, David Caballero, Subhas C. Kundu & Rui L. Reis

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  1. Catarina M. Abreu
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  2. David Caballero
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  3. Subhas C. Kundu
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  4. Rui L. Reis
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Correspondence to Catarina M. Abreu .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. 3B’s Research Group, I3Bs - Research Institute on Biomaterials, Biodegradables and Biomimetics at the University of Minho, Headquarters of the European Institute of Excellence on Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, ICVS/3B’s – PT Government Associate Laboratory, Braga/Guimarães, Portugal

    David Caballero

  2. 3B’s Research Group, I3Bs - Research Institute on Biomaterials, Biodegradables and Biomimetics at the University of Minho, Headquarters of the European Institute of Excellence on Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, ICVS/3B’s – PT Government Associate Laboratory, Braga/Guimarães, Portugal

    Subhas C. Kundu

  3. 3B’s Research Group, I3Bs - Research Institute on Biomaterials, Biodegradables and Biomimetics at the University of Minho, Headquarters of the European Institute of Excellence on Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, ICVS/3B’s – PT Government Associate Laboratory, Braga/Guimarães, Portugal

    Rui L. Reis

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Abreu, C.M., Caballero, D., Kundu, S.C., Reis, R.L. (2022). From Exosomes to Circulating Tumor Cells: Using Microfluidics to Detect High Predictive Cancer Biomarkers. In: Caballero, D., Kundu, S.C., Reis, R.L. (eds) Microfluidics and Biosensors in Cancer Research. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 1379. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-04039-9_15

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