Acoustic whole blood imaging flow cytometry for rare cell identification

Introduction

This project addresses the need for new tools to detect and monitor the disease progression in patients with metastatic cancer. Breast and prostate cancer are the most common malignant cancers in women and men, respectively.

Importance of Metastasis

Metastasis is the main threat in these cancers since it turns a curable local disease into a chronic lethal disease. With emerging new targeting therapies, there is an unmet clinical need for improved prognostication, treatment prediction, and treatment monitoring. Circulating tumor cells enumeration has the potential to become a valuable tool.

Challenges in Detection

However, circulating tumor cells are very rare, and the background of other blood cells is vast, which makes it extremely challenging to classify and count these cells.

Project Development

In the project, we will develop acoustic whole-blood cytometry. This will enable unbiased imaging and enumeration of circulating tumor cells through a panel of fluorescent antibodies with minimal pre-treatment.

Vision for Healthcare

The vision is that the approach will become standard equipment in hospital labs in the transition to more personalized healthcare.

Evaluation of Technical Challenges

The project will evaluate key technical challenges on the path to commercialization. It has strong support from an industrial partner and from clinicians and pre-clinical researchers focused on breast and prostate cancer.