Circulating Tumor Cells (CTCs) and Rare Cells

Services Provided

The Circulating Tumor Cell (CTC) and Rare Cell core facility offers several technologies for the isolation, characterization, and analysis of rare cells, including circulating tumor cells (CTCs), in biological fluids. The facility is equipped with three advanced systems: CellSearch, Parsortix, and DEPArray NxT, each serving distinct yet complementary purposes.

- CTC isolation and enumeration: the CellSearch system enables precise isolation and enumeration of CTCs from blood samples, for monitoring cancer progression, assessing treatment response, and identifying metastatic disease. Researchers can also perform molecular analyses on isolated CTCs, providing insights into tumor genetics and identifying potential biomarkers for diagnosis and therapy.

- Label free CTC capture: the Parsortix system offers a non-invasive, label-free method for isolating CTCs from blood and other body fluids. Using a microfluidic system, Parsortix separates cells based on size and deformability without the need for antibodies.

- Single-Cell isolation and analysis: the DEPArray NxT system isolates individual rare cells with high precision using dielectrophoresis (DEP). It allows researchers to separate CTCs or other rare cell types from complex samples for downstream analysis, including single-cell RNA sequencing, genetic profiling, and studying cellular heterogeneity. This system can be used for investigating tumor cell diversity, treatment resistance, and immune responses.

Together, these technologies offer a comprehensive workflow for CTC isolation and single-cell analysis, supporting advanced cancer research, liquid biopsy applications, and personalized treatment strategies.

The facility also offers support in experimental design and data interpretation.