New research project at the institute: Institute of Computer-assisted Cardiovascular Medicine - Charité

The European Union is a sponsor of the proCTC project!

Project Manager PD Dr.-Ing. Ulrich Kertzscher

The proCTC project deals with different mechanical methods of cell detachment. For example, it is investigated whether the bound cells can be detached by means of flow.

Project proCTC - Proliferation of circulating tumor cells for personalized treatment of tumor patients

The BMProbe, a medical device from Invicol GmbH, can be used to collect rare cells from the bloodstream in a minimally invasive manner. In the joint project proCTC, different methods for detaching these cells from the probe surface are being investigated. Subsequently, the expansion of the detached cells will be investigated.
The aim is to use molecular analyses to investigate to what extent the preclinical models reflect the original tumor and/or the metastasis. In addition, drug testing will be used to determine whether preclinical models derived from CTCs and/or patient-derived organoid models reflect therapy response or the presence of resistance in the patient. Thus, it will be investigated whether they are suitable for application in precision medicine of cancer patients.

Motivation and goals

Milestone 1
a) Identification of the optimized transport medium per entity using 2D cell lines and PDOs
b) Identification of the specific scavenger molecules for the corresponding tumor entity
Milestone 2
a) Identification of optimized culture conditions per entity using 2D cell lines and PDOs
b) Establishment of a transfer protocol for the isolated cells
c) The capture molecules must meet the requirements in terms of binding affinity
d) flow around the probe with required shear stress possible
Milestone 3
a) Establishment of a cell harvesting method for successful cell proliferation in the model
b) Study inclusion of at least 10 patients

In this project with a duration of 3 years, the Laboratory for Biofluid Mechanics is working together with the laboratory of the Charité Comprehensive Cancer Center and INVICOL GmbH. The proCTC project is funded by the European Union.

Duration of the project:

12/2022 - 11/2025

Congratulations to the team of PD Dr.-Ing. Ulrich Kertzscher! We wish good luck!