Capturing circulating cancer cells

Researchers at the Ian Wark Research Institute, located at the University of South Australia, have developed a new way to catch cancer cells circulating in a patient’s blood. Rapid, affordable and unbiased methods to isolate rare tumour cells from blood are urgently required to move towards the clinical implementation of what is often referred to as “liquid biopsy”.

Associate Professor Benjamin Thierry and Dr Yuan Wan engraved nano-sized dents onto a plastic polystyrene surface to create an attractive surface for cells to stick to. Over 95% of tumour cells present in blood samples adhered to the rough nanoplastic surfaces and could be easily identified among blood cells using automated microscopy.

The simple and effective method could be a powerful tool for cancer research in the future, potentially giving doctors valuable information on cancer patients’ prognosis and response to treatment. It was presented this week at the 23rd Australian Conference on Microscopy and Microanalysis (ACMM23) and the International Conference on Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICONN 2014), jointly held at the Adelaide Convention Centre.