Cell-Based Sensor Detects Early Oral Cancer Marker

A microfluidic device designed to capture and enrich cells from biologic samples, can detect an important early marker for oral squamous cell carcinoma, which accounts for more than 90% of oral cancers.

The device is simple in design and easy to use. The key component is an etched membrane that gently captures cells in biologic fluids, such as saliva, flowing through microfluidic channels. Once captured on the membrane, the cells are exposed to a solution containing fluorescently labeled antibodies that bind specifically to epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), a protein found on the surface of tumors removed from 90% of oral cell carcinoma patients. Labeled cells, that is, those with EGFR, are readily visible using a standard fluoresence microscope. The entire assay takes less than 10 minutes to complete.

John McDevitt, Ph.D., from the University in Texas in Austin (Austin, TX, USA), led the team that developed this microfluidic cell capture and interrogate device. A report of their work appeared in the August 2007 journal Lab on a Chip. The investigators noted that this device should be suitable for rapidly measuring any tumor cell-surface biomarker.

Other investigators demonstrated that EGFR is present on cells during the early stages of tumor development. In addition, an EGFR-targeted antibody has been approved to treat oral squamous cell carcinoma, although the drug is not used widely to treat this form of cancer because it is difficult to determine which patients would benefit from its use. With further development, the microfluidic device could provide the means for identifying such patients rapidly and inexpensively.


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