# Label free microfluidic isolation, characterization and ex vivo expansion of CTCs

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · 2020 · $557,904

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
To date, pancreatic cancer, beyond most other cancers has been categorically associated with the term
“lethal”. This association stems from the fact that pancreatic cancer has a median survival rate of less than 6
months after diagnosis, and a bleak 5-year survival rate of 3-5 percent. The most prevalent form of pancreatic
cancer, pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), demonstrates a particularly aggressive biology with
resistance to both conventional and targeted therapeutics, so that by the time a patient receives the diagnosis,
the disease has already advanced to an incurable state. Furthermore, significant challenges exist in obtaining
tissue from pancreatic cancer patients, making it difficult to study tumors and their pharmacodynamic
responses during treatment. These facts highlight the unmet challenge of identifying the lethal cells that survive
and thrive even after treatment and are predisposed to recur. Ascertaining the mechanisms that drive the
disease and its recurrence can spur the development of new treatment strategies to improve outcomes for
these patients. One avenue that could lead to accurate predictive tools, therapeutic targets, and
pharmacodynamic biomarker information comes from the analysis of circulating tumor cells (CTCs). For over
two decades, studies have shown that tumor cells from primary solid tumors can be detected in the circulation.
These CTCs may be precursors to systemic metastases. The detection of CTCs in peripheral blood has been
recognized as a potential tool in the diagnosis of cancer and cell metastasis. Furthermore, the relative number
of CTCs in the blood appears to be an independent predictor of progression in several types of cancer.
However, before instituting CTCs as a reliable biomarker, one must answer fundamental questions regarding
their biological and clinical significance. Are all CTCs capable of proliferation, invasion, and metastasis? Are
there subpopulations of CTCs that are more aggressive than the rest? If so, do these aggressive CTCs carry
specific driver signature and how it is different or similar to primary tumor? Are these cells persistent through
therapy and capable of proliferation? Answers to these questions can reveal the earliest cells with metastasis-
initiating capability, providing a therapeutic target. Hence, to establish clinical applications of CTCs for
personalized therapy in pancreatic and other cancers, there is a compelling need for sensitive, accurate
approaches to distinguish metastasis-initiating driver CTCs from essentially “passenger” CTCs. We will
accomplish this goal through a sophisticated biomarker independent microfluidic platform “labyrinth” that not
only enables highly sensitive isolation of CTCs but also provides the novel capability to culture and expand the
low numbers of isolated CTCs. Most of the CTC isolation technologies depend on the known surface markers
and suffer from low throughput. Moreover, the presence of multiple s...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9878074
- **Project number:** 5R01CA208335-04
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR
- **Principal Investigator:** Sunitha Nagrath
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $557,904
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-03-03 → 2022-02-28

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9878074

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9878074, Label free microfluidic isolation, characterization and ex vivo expansion of CTCs (5R01CA208335-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9878074. Licensed CC0.

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