Detecting cancer biomarkers in blood: challenges for new molecular diagnostic and point-of-care tests using cell-free nucleic acids→

In this review, the authors discuss emerging cell-free nanoparticles isolation technologies that demonstrate the potential for being translated into point-of-care application. The simplicity of sample preparation used in Biological Dynamics’ AC dielectrophoretic separation enables future applications of molecular diagnostics at point-of-care.

Lewis JM, Heineck DP, Heller MJ. Expert Rev Mol Diagn. 2015 Jul 18. doi: 10.1586/14737159.2015.1069709. 

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Abstract

As we move into the era of individualized cancer treatment, the need for more sophisticated cancer diagnostics has emerged. Cell-free (cf) nucleic acids (cf-DNA, cf-RNA) and other cellular nanoparticulates are now considered important and selective biomarkers. There is great hope that blood-borne cf-nucleic acids can be used for ‘liquid biopsies,’ replacing more invasive tissue biopsies to analyze cancer mutations and monitor therapy. Conventional techniques for cf-nucleic acid biomarker isolation from blood are generally time-consuming, complicated and expensive. They require relatively large blood samples, which must be processed to serum or plasma before isolation of biomarkers can proceed. Such cumbersome  sample preparation also limits the widespread use of powerful, downstream genomic analyses, including PCR and DNA sequencing. These limitations also preclude rapid, point-of-care diagnostic applications. Thus, new technologies that allow rapid isolation of biomarkers directly from blood will permit seamless sample-to-answer solutions that enable next-generation point-of-care molecular diagnostics.

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