A Novel Microfluidic System for Immunomagnetic Isolation of Pancreatic Cancer CTCs: Plectin-1 and EpCAM as Potential Tumor Markers
A fast, affordable blood test successfully isolates pancreatic cancer cells with high accuracy, potentially enabling earlier detection for a hard-to-catch cancer.
This proof-of-concept study demonstrates a low-cost, 3D-printed microfluidic system achieving 91.3% recovery of PDAC cells using a dual-antibody approach (EpCAM + Plectin-1), with complete isolation in under 1 minute from blood samples. Plectin-1 is validated as a PDAC-specific circulating tumor cell marker, potentially enabling earlier liquid-biopsy-based detection for a cancer with <10% 5-year survival due to late diagnosis.
What the study was
- Study design
- Technical/in vitro proof-of-concept study
- Population
- Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) cell lines; spiked blood samples
- Category
- Early Detection
- Maturity
- Exploratory
- Journal
- ACS Omega
Why it surfaced
Novel dual-marker microfluidic CTC isolation for PDAC with 91.3% recovery — addresses high unmet need for PDAC early detection (5-yr survival <10%). Plectin-1 as PDAC-specific CTC marker is a noteworthy advance over EpCAM-only approaches. In vitro only; needs clinical validation. CRDT boundary note: entrez 2026-05-11T06:46Z — included per date-level CRDT filter.
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