MIT Developed a Circulating Tumor Cell Counting Approach As a Solution to How Metastatic Cancer Works

Experts from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT have discovered a new and effective approach to count tumor cells that are found in organs and impacts bloodstreams. These destructive tumors also have the capability to move from one organ to another, inducing new tumors that often metastasize over time and lead to severe health impacts.

Quantifying CTC in Between Mice Subjects

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For the first time, MIT engineers found the best solution to quantify the generation rate of circulating tumors cells or CTC. The study was made possible with the help of mice subjects. Throughout their examinations, it was found that the new method was also effective at predicting the survival rate of CTCs once they are released and flowed across bloodstreams. The research is expected to help medical and cancer experts to analyze and differentiate the numerous cancers affecting the human body and could give a hint of a potential solution to formulate a new and better way of treating the deadly disease.

MIT's Biological Engineering and Mechanical Engineering department expert, David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research specialist, and senior author of the study Scott Manalis said in a MedicalXpress report that their study was able to obtain the precise measurement in CTC's information, including their circulation entry and clearance, through exchanging blood content between subjects and counting their CTCs real-time.

The new approach revealed CTC information from several tumors, including pancreatic and lung tumors. Alongside Manalis, visiting experts of Koch Institute Alex Miller and Bashar Hamza led the CTC counting research.

Although tumor cells are known to have the ability to circulate in a patient's organs and bloodstreams, the recorded cases often occur on rare occasions. For example, a patient's blood that measures 1 milliliter in volume could only contain a to 10 CTCs. The rarity and challenging features of circulating cells take a lot of time and incur additional efforts between research.

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Counting Circulating Tumor Cells Better than Biopsy

The solution to capturing these cells is already attempted by initial studies. Once perfected, the new approach may give specific details on tumors, and how to track them across any organs to pursue treatment options. Manalis said that tracking down circulating tumor cells are much beneficial and convenient compared to biopsying the tumor itself.

The CTCs in mice subjects are more difficult to track compared to the human standards, as the specimens contain a volume of blood that measures less than 1 milliliter. However, the approach could be perfected in quantifying how the cells are shed and survive the blood circulation.

The CTC analysis required the experts to develop a technology that would allow them to extract blood samples from a tumor-affected subject and relay it to a healthy one. The blood flow between two subjects served as cell counters, which were able to read and analyze circulating tumor cells. The setup helped the processing speed up, and within under an hour, the experts have successfully gathered data on CTC concentration. The study was published in the journal Nature Communications, titled "Measuring kinetics and metastatic propensity of CTCs by blood exchange between mice."