Obiettivo The main cause of death in cancer patients is not the primary tumor but rather metastasis, which is initiated by the spread of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in the blood. Therefore, CTCs will become a valuable diagnostic tool, once a reliable, cost-effective method is established. Research in the ongoing ERC Advanced Investigator Grant DISSECT (PI: Klaus Pantel) has revealed clear limitations of existing platforms for the detection of CTCs. The enrichment and identification of CTCs out of a blood sample is still a major challenge, mainly because the ratio between CTCs and blood cells is approximately 1:109. The proposed CAPTURE-CTC project is based on this knowledge and aimed to develop and validate a novel improved platform for CTC detection: Pumping a suspension of blood cells through a microfluidic chip, only labeled CTCs get immobilized on a micro-pattern due to strong biotin-streptavidin interaction. Single cell analysis can be performed after the cells are quantified, optically localized and extracted from the pattern with a micro-capillary. This platform will be validated on cancer patients. The detection of CTCs is a very active field, targeted by several SMEs with approaches in different stages of development and/or clinical application. However, the only FDA-cleared assay for CTC detection is the “CellSearch CTC Test” which will be the benchmark in regard to performance, validity of results and cost per test. The CellSearch system has technical limitations (e.g. EpCAM-negative CTCs are not captured and it is a closed system that allows no easy access to the captured CTCs for subsequent molecular characterization analyses). Our proposed CAPTURE-CTC system will constitute a novel platform that will overcome these important limitations and establish an easy-to-use blood test allows further downstream analyses of CTCs as a “liquid biopsy” relevant to personalized cancer medicine. Campo scientifico medical and health sciencesclinical medicineoncologyengineering and technologymedical engineeringmedical laboratory technologylaboratory samples analysis Programma(i) H2020-EU.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme Argomento(i) ERC-PoC-2014 - ERC Proof of Concept Grant Invito a presentare proposte ERC-2014-PoC Vedi altri progetti per questo bando Meccanismo di finanziamento ERC-POC - Proof of Concept Grant Istituzione ospitante UNIVERSITAETSKLINIKUM HAMBURG-EPPENDORF Contribution nette de l'UE € 149 750,00 Indirizzo Martinistrasse 52 20251 Hamburg Germania Mostra sulla mappa Regione Hamburg Hamburg Hamburg Tipo di attività Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Collegamenti Contatta l’organizzazione Opens in new window Sito web Opens in new window Partecipazione a programmi di R&I dell'UE Opens in new window Rete di collaborazione HORIZON Opens in new window Costo totale € 149 750,00 Beneficiari (1) Classifica in ordine alfabetico Classifica per Contributo netto dell'UE Espandi tutto Riduci tutto UNIVERSITAETSKLINIKUM HAMBURG-EPPENDORF Germania Contribution nette de l'UE € 149 750,00 Indirizzo Martinistrasse 52 20251 Hamburg Mostra sulla mappa Regione Hamburg Hamburg Hamburg Tipo di attività Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Collegamenti Contatta l’organizzazione Opens in new window Sito web Opens in new window Partecipazione a programmi di R&I dell'UE Opens in new window Rete di collaborazione HORIZON Opens in new window Costo totale € 149 750,00