Evidence map›Paper›PMID 25984697›Full record

ArticleNature methods2015

A microfluidic device for label-free, physical capture of circulating tumor cell clusters.

A Fatih Sarioglu, Nicola Aceto, Nikola Kojic, Maria C Donaldson, Mahnaz Zeinali, Bashar Hamza, Amanda Engstrom, Huili Zhu, Tilak K Sundaresan, David T Miyamoto and 11 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Nature methods, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 323 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
323citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

323 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Trial
  2. Article
  3. CTC cluster in breast cancer: synergetic metastasis promotion mechanism and transformation path from platelet cloaking to leukocyte escort.Clinical & translational oncology : official publication of the Federation of Spanish Oncology Societies and of the National Cancer Institute of Mexico · 2026
    Review
  4. Article
  5. Review
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Review
  10. Article
  11. Review
  12. Collective migration modes in development, tissue repair and cancer.Nature reviews. Molecular cell biology · 2025
    Review
  13. Review
  14. Article
  15. Review
  16. Article
  17. Precision Oncology Framework Using Circulating Tumor Cells.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025
    Review
  18. Review
  19. Article
  20. Article

263 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

21 authors.

A Fatih Sarioglu1] Center for Engineering in Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. [2] Cancer Center, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. [3] Department of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Nicola Aceto1] Cancer Center, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. [2] Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Nikola Kojic1] Center for Engineering in Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. [2] Department of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Maria C DonaldsonCancer Center, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Mahnaz Zeinali1] Center for Engineering in Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. [2] Cancer Center, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Bashar HamzaCenter for Engineering in Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Amanda EngstromCancer Center, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Huili ZhuCancer Center, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Tilak K SundaresanCancer Center, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
David T Miyamoto1] Cancer Center, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. [2] Department of Radiation Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Xi LuoCancer Center, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Aditya Bardia1] Cancer Center, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. [2] Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Ben S WittnerCancer Center, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.ORCID 0000000156579849
Sridhar Ramaswamy1] Cancer Center, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. [2] Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Toshi ShiodaCancer Center, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
David T Ting1] Cancer Center, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. [2] Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Shannon L Stott1] Center for Engineering in Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. [2] Cancer Center, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. [3] Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Ravi KapurCenter for Engineering in Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Shyamala Maheswaran1] Cancer Center, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. [2] Department of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Daniel A Haber1] Cancer Center, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. [2] Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. [3] Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Chevy Chase, Maryland, USA.
Mehmet Toner1] Center for Engineering in Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. [2] Department of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

Funding

Point-of care Microfluidics for Early Detection of CancerU01EB012493 · NIBIB · MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL · PI HABER, DANIEL A., TONER, MEHMET · 2010 to 2018
$19.6M
Dana Farber/Harvard Cancer Consortium Career Development Program in Clinical OncologyK12CA087723 · NCI · MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL · PI David Tsai Ting · 2002 to 2026
$17.9M
Bio-MicroElectroMechanical Systems Resource CenterP41EB002503 · NIBIB · MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL · PI TONER, MEHMET · 2004 to 2018
$17.4M
Point-of-Care Microfluidics in Lung CancerR01EB008047 · NIBIB · MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL · PI TONER, MEHMET · 2007 to 2009
$3.4M
Howard Hughes Medical InstituteNCI NIH HHS K12 CA087723NIBIB NIH HHS P41 EB002503NIBIB NIH HHS R01 EB008047NIBIB NIH HHS U01 EB012493
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Cancer cells metastasize through the bloodstream either as single migratory circulating tumor cells (CTCs) or as multicellular groupings (CTC clusters). Existing technologies for CTC enrichment are designed to isolate single CTCs, and although CTC clusters are detectable in some cases, their true prevalence and significance remain to be determined. Here we developed a microchip technology (the Cluster-Chip) to capture CTC clusters independently of tumor-specific markers from unprocessed blood. CTC clusters are isolated through specialized bifurcating traps under low-shear stress conditions that preserve their integrity, and even two-cell clusters are captured efficiently. Using the Cluster-Chip, we identified CTC clusters in 30-40% of patients with metastatic breast or prostate cancer or with melanoma. RNA sequencing of CTC clusters confirmed their tumor origin and identified tissue-derived macrophages within the clusters. Efficient capture of CTC clusters will enable the detailed characterization of their biological properties and role in metastasis.

Indexed as

Microfluidic Analytical TechniquesNeoplastic Cells, CirculatingBreast NeoplasmsCell Line, TumorFemaleHumansImmunohistochemistryMaleProstatic NeoplasmsSequence Analysis, RNA

Identifiers

PMID25984697
PMCPMC4490017

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.