Microfluidic device allows profiling of cancer cells

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in the blood stream of cancer patients are linked to the formation of metastasis. Researchers from the group of Petra Dittrich together with colleagues from the University Hospital Basel and the University of Basel now developed a method based on a microfluidic device to capture the rare CTCs from full blood samples. The aim is to provide clinicians with a tool that helps characterise CTCs and hence, contribute to targeted cancer therapies.