Multiple myeloma is a type of blood cancer in which malignant plasma cells, a type of white blood cell, accumulate in the bone marrow. This leads to bone destruction and failure of the marrow, which in healthy individuals, produce all the body's red blood cells.
[...] Recent studies have shown some myeloma cells can leave the bone marrow and enter the blood stream. The presence of these cells, known as clonal circulating plasma cells, or cCPCs, in the blood has been correlated with shorter survival times.
Until now, it has been difficult to detect cCPCs in the blood. Existing methods cannot always detect the low levels of these cells in MM patients. In this week's issue of Biomicrofluidics, investigators report the development of a new device that can detect and isolate cCPCs from small samples of blood.
The device is a type of filter that separates malignant plasma cells from normal ones. It is based on a concept known as microfluidics. The filtering action is due to tiny pillars in the flow channel, designed in a precise way that allows normal blood cells through the filter while capturing the cancerous cCPCs.
More information: "Mechanical segregation and capturing of clonal circulating plasma cells in multiple myeloma using micropillar-integrated microfluidic device," Biomicrofluidics (2019). DOI: 10.1063/1.5112050
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Rupert Pupnick on Friday November 22 2019, @02:26PM
Something that many folks may take for granted is that similar technologies are already being used at much larger scale to actually treat blood cancer patients. A blood stem cell donor is typically connected to a machine that carries out a similar filtration function designed to deliver a large quantity of stem cells to a patient for transplantation. The underlying tech described in TFA is doubtless different, but the life saving applications for blood filtering are many.