Discrete microfluidics for the isolation of circulating tumor cell subpopulations targeting fibroblast activation protein alpha and epithelial cell adhesion molecule.

Circulating tumor cells consist of phenotypically distinct subpopulations that originate from the tumor microenvironment. We report a circulating tumor cell dual selection assay that uses discrete microfluidics to select circulating tumor cell subpopulations from a single blood sample; circulating tumor cells expressing the established marker epithelial cell adhesion molecule and a new marker, fibroblast activation protein alpha, were evaluated. Both circulating tumor cell subpopulations were detected in metastatic ovarian, colorectal, prostate, breast, and pancreatic cancer patients and 90% of the isolated circulating tumor cells did not co-express both antigens.

Adrenocortical carcinoma: modern management and evolving treatment strategies.

Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is a rare cancer with a poor prognosis. Unlike many other cancers, there has been little improvement in patient outcome over the past several decades. However, as scientific advancements are made and our understanding of the molecular genetics involved in ACC improve then progress may be achieved in this devastating disease.

Pheochromocytoma Screening Initiation and Frequency in von Hippel-Lindau Syndrome.

Context: Patients with von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) syndrome have a 25-30% chance of developing pheochromocytoma. Although practice guidelines recommend biochemical and radiological screening every 1-2 years for pheochromocytoma in patients with VHL, there are limited data on the optimal age and frequency for screening.

Objective: Our objective was to determine the earliest age of onset and frequency of contralateral and recurrent pheochromocytomas in patients with VHL syndrome.

Emerging therapy for adrenocortical carcinoma.

Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is a very rare and aggressive tumor with dismal outcomes. Best current treatments include complete surgical resection for localized resectable disease and systemic therapy with mitotane alone or in combination for advanced ACC. Advances in molecular genetic profiling of ACC have created multiple new targets for potential treatment options in ACC.

UV activation of polymeric high aspect ratio microstructures: ramifications in antibody surface loading for circulating tumor cell selection.

The need to activate thermoplastic surfaces using robust and efficient methods has been driven by the fact that replication techniques can be used to produce microfluidic devices in a high production mode and at low cost, making polymer microfluidics invaluable for in vitro diagnostics, such as circulating tumor cell (CTC) analysis, where device disposability is critical to mitigate artifacts associated with sample carryover. Modifying the surface chemistry of thermoplastic devices through activation techniques can be used to increase the wettability of the surface or to produce functional scaffolds to allow for the covalent attachment of biologics, such as antibodies for CTC recognition. Extensive surface characterization tools were used to investigate UV activation of various surfaces to produce uniform and high surface coverage of functional groups, such as carboxylic acids in microchannels of different aspect ratios.