Detection and characterization of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) may reveal insights into the diagnosis and treatment of malignant disease. Technologies for isolating CTCs developed thus far suffer from one or more limitations, such as low throughput, inability to release captured cells, and reliance on expensive instrumentation for enrichment or subsequent characterization. We report a continuing development of a magnetic separation device, the magnetic sifter, which is a miniature microfluidic chip with a dense array of magnetic pores. It offers high efficiency capture of tumor cells, labeled with magnetic nanoparticles, from whole blood with high throughput and efficient release of captured cells. For subsequent characterization of CTCs, an assay, using a protein chip with giant magnetoresistive nanosensors, has been implemented for mutational analysis of CTCs enriched with the magnetic sifter. The use of these magnetic technologies, which are separate devices, may lead the way to routine preparation and characterization of “liquid biopsies” from cancer patients.

Significance: There exists an urgent need for minimally invasive molecular analysis tools for cancer assessment and management, particularly in advanced-stage lung cancer, when tissue procurement is challenging and gene mutation profiling is crucial to identify molecularly targeted agents for treatment. High-throughput compartmentalization and multigene profiling of individual circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from whole-blood samples using modular gene panels may facilitate highly sensitive, yet minimally invasive characterization of lung cancer for therapy prediction and monitoring. We envision this nanoplatform as a compelling research tool to investigate the dynamics of cancer disease processes, as well as a viable clinical platform for minimally invasive yet comprehensive cancer assessment.