Illustration of an artery with blood cells and a circulating tumor cell (purple). Credit: Alamy Stock Photo
Cellulose-based magnetic nanocrystals and nanofibres can capture circulating tumour cells (CTCs) from the blood samples of head and neck cancer patients1. A magnet is used to separate the trapped tumour cells, which are then identified under a fluorescence microscope.
This technique could potentially be used to monitor cancer progression in real time, says an international team, which included researchers at North Dakota State University, USA, the Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai, and Actorius Innovations and Research, and Dr. Vishwanath Karad MIT World Peace University, both in Pune.
Cancer cells can break away from the original tumour, travel through the blood and form a new tumour in other organs. These cells can trigger metastasis and go undetected by sophisticated imaging tools.
The scientists, led by Mohiuddin Quadir and Jayant Khandare, converted cellulose into nanocrystals and nanofibres. They then modified these nanomaterials with iron oxide nanoparticles and antibodies specific to epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM), a cell-surface protein overexpressed in cancer cells.
The team exposed the scaffolds of the nanocrystals and nanofibres to cultured human colon cancer cells and to blood samples from head and neck cancer patients. The smaller diameter of the nanocrystals allowed them to capture CTCs more efficiently than the nanofibres.
The biocompatible nanocrystal-based scaffold showed almost 93% capture efficiency. It does not clog and can bind to CTCs even in large-volume blood.
The researchers say the nanocrystals could accelerate the identification of therapeutic targets and anti-cancer drug development.
