Blood Filter Device Removes Circulating Tumor Cells in Pancreatic Cancer Patients

By HospiMedica International staff writers
Posted on 17 Jul 2023

Image: The OncoBind procedure is based on the Seraph 100 Microbind Affinity Blood Filter (Photo courtesy of ExThera)

Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma (PDAC), a type of pancreatic cancer, is predicted to be the second most common cause of cancer-related fatalities by 2030. Circulating Tumor Cells (CTCs), cancer cells that break away from a primary tumor and enter the bloodstream, are responsible for metastatic cancer. This form of cancer is often resistant to standard treatments such as chemotherapy, radiation, and immunotherapy, making it particularly difficult to treat. The presence of CTCs in blood correlates with the outcomes of metastatic cancer. Preliminary methods that extract CTCs from the bloodstream have shown promising results in animal trials, implying that reducing CTCs in the blood might slow or prevent metastasis. Now, an extracorporeal blood filter procedure can remove CTCs from the bloodstream of patients suffering from PDAC, offering an important tool for treating this lethal cancer with a low 5-year survival rate.

ExThera Medical’s (Martinez, CA, USA) OncoBind extracorporeal blood filter procedure, based on its Seraph 100 Microbind Affinity Blood Filter, has proven successful in removing metastatic circulating tumor cells in several in vitro models. As the patient's blood flows through the OncoBind Blood Filter, it passes over beads with receptors that imitate those on human cells that are targeted by pathogens and CTCs for attachment and colonization. The CTCs are then captured and adsorbed to the beads’ surface, effectively removing them from the bloodstream. Like the Seraph 100, the OncoBind system does not introduce anything foreign into the blood. OncoBind, similar to Seraph's adsorption media (the beads), represents a versatile platform that uses immobilized (chemically bonded) heparin due to its proven blood compatibility and its unique ability to bind CTCs. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved an Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) application for ExThera’s OncoBind extracorporeal blood filter procedure.

“Seraph technology has an excellent safety record in more than 2,500 clinical treatments performed globally, of bacterial, viral, and fungal bloodstream infections,” said Bob Ward, Ph.D. (h)., NAE, the CEO & a founder of ExThera Medical. “We are pleased to begin an important new clinical trial, and ecstatic that FDA has approved our recent IDE application. If ExThera’s technology captures CTCs in the clinical setting, as it has in the laboratory, the potential is enormous, adding another much-needed tool to the arsenal for treating PDAC, a lethal cancer with a low 5-year survival rate.”

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ExThera Medical