A team from Massachusetts General Hospital have adapted mucrofluidic tecnology allowing them to create a more safe and personalised approach to cancer treatement. The 'CTC chip' analyses circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from a small amount of blood taken from the patient. The chip is able to find cancer cells as rare as one in a billion blood cells allowing it to be used to track the progression of the cancer and monitor the effect of the treatment. The surface of the CTC chip is coated with EpCAM antibodies which are also found on the surface of nearly all carcinogens and not on the surface of blood cells. This allows the chip to effectively detect and attract tumour cells. Mehmet Toner, the leader of the team that engineered the chip believes that "the chip will allow rational decision making for cancer patients," and also negating the need for numerous, painful and sometimes dangerous biopsies. Toner also compares the chip to the current treatment of AIDS where pateients have their viral load and T Cells measured for the adjustment of their medication.
Matthew Pearcy
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source: http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=a-chip-against-cancer
