Evaluation of the Cellsway Microfluidic CTC Enrichment and Identification Platform for CTC Detection in Metastatic NSCLC

Date

2026-01-01

Author

Ozgur, Ebru
Circir, Ayca
Dogan, Begum Sen
Sahin, Sebnem
Karayalcin, Gizem
Demir, Mehmet Alper
Erkek, Basak
Demirtas, Enes
Zorlu, Ozge
Ceylan, Furkan
Külah, Haluk
Karadurmus, Nuri
Sendur, Mehmet Ali Nahit
KILIÇKAP, SAADETTİN

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Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide, with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) accounting for the majority of cases. Standard tissue biopsies are invasive and unsuitable for repeated monitoring. Liquid biopsy technologies, particularly circulating tumor cell (CTC) analysis, offer a minimally invasive alternative for real-time disease tracking. To address the need for efficient and reproducible CTC isolation, we developed the Cellsway microfluidic CTC enrichment and identification platform, which employs inertial hydrodynamics in a spiral-shaped microfluidic channel comprising hydrofoil-shaped pillars to enable high-throughput, label-free enrichment of CTCs while preserving cell integrity, followed by an optimized CTC identification assay. Analytical performance assessed through spiking experiments using NSCLC cell lines demonstrated recovery rates of 91.9% for H1975 cells and 78.3% for A549 cells. Clinical validation was performed on blood samples from 51 stage IV NSCLC patients. A 7.5 mL volume of peripheral blood was processed with the SwayBox platform, and enriched CTCs were identified through an optimized multiplex immunofluorescence protocol. CTCs were detected in 47% of NSCLC patients, with counts ranging from 0 to 72 cells per 7.5 mL of blood. At a cutoff of 1 CTC per 7.5 mL, the assay achieved a specificity of 95%. Patient-derived CTCs exhibited smaller mean diameters compared to cultured NSCLC cell lines, yet were effectively enriched through hydro-dynamic tuning. These findings demonstrate that the Cellsway platform enables efficient and re-producible CTC isolation with high specificity, supporting its potential utility for clinical monitoring and precision oncology in NSCLC.

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/118689

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Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Article