# Develop CTC capture technology for both mesenchymal and non-mesenchymal tumors

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF TX MD ANDERSON CAN CTR · 2021 · $352,800

## Abstract

Project Summary
 Circulating tumor cells (CTCs), considered to be the seeds of metastasis, are rare cells that detach
themselves from primary tumors and travel in the blood as residual disease, potentially colonizing as metastases
in distant organs. Therefore, detection of CTCs may serve as a tool for early detection of residual disease,
relapse, and metastasis. Although available CTC assays detect epithelial markers such as EpCAM and
cytokeratins, they are ineffective in detecting CTCs from non-epithelial tumors such as melanoma,
neuroblastoma, and sarcomas. Innovative tools for universal CTC detection are needed.
 The PI has discovered that cell surface vimentin (CSV) is expressed on the surface of CTCs but not
normal cells in peripheral blood of patients with different types of tumors. This CSV is detectable by using an
antibody (84-1) developed by the PI. Significantly, this CSV is primarily found on freshly isolated metastatic tumor
cells. The goal of this application is to develop a universal CTC detection chip (U-CTChip) and to perform
automated CTC capture using this U-CTChip.
 Current CTC research is largely focused on the association of CTCs with survival, but we believe that
CTCs have other clinical applications, such as early detection of tumor relapse and monitoring the efficacy of
maintenance therapy. In our preliminary studies of our CSV-CTC capture tool, we observed that change in CTC
numbers over time (from checkup to checkup) was associated with tumor relapse and response to maintenance
therapy in neuroblastoma. The second goal of the proposed project is to investigate these two novel clinical
applications using U-CTChip.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10109115
- **Project number:** 5R01EB026291-04
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF TX MD ANDERSON CAN CTR
- **Principal Investigator:** SHULIN LI
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $352,800
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-05-01 → 2023-02-28

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10109115

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10109115, Develop CTC capture technology for both mesenchymal and non-mesenchymal tumors (5R01EB026291-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10109115. Licensed CC0.

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