A Microfluidic Chip for Detecting Cholangiocarcinoma Cells in Human Bile

Lien Yu Hung, Nai Jung Chiang, Wei Chun Tsai, Chien Yu Fu, Yu Chun Wang, Yan Shen Shan, Gwo Bin Lee

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

8 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA), a biliary tract malignancy, accounts for 20% of all liver cancers. There are several existing methods for diagnosis of CCA, though they are generally expensive, laborious, and suffer from low detection rates. Herein we first developed a means of partially purifying human bile for consequent injection into a microfluidic chip. Then, the novel microfluidic system, which featured 1) a cell capture module, 2) an immunofluorescence (IF) staining module featuring two CCA-specific biomarkers, and 3) an optical detection module for visualization of antibody probes bound to these CCA marker proteins, was used to detect bile duct cancer cells within partially purified bile samples. As a proof of concept, CCA cells were successfully captured and identified from CCA cell cultures, blood samples inoculated with CCA cells, and clinical bile specimens. In 7.5 ml of bile, this system could detect >2, 0, and 1 positive cells in advanced stage patients, healthy patients, and chemotherapy-treated patients, respectively. In conclusion, our microfluidic system could be a promising tool for detection of cancer cells in bile, even at the earliest stages of CCA when cancer cells are at low densities relative to the total population of epithelial cells.

Original languageEnglish
Article number4248
JournalScientific reports
Volume7
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2017 Dec 1

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General

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