FLUORESCENCE IN SITU HYBRIDIZATION (FISH) MICROFLUIDIC PLATFORM FOR DETECTION OF HER-2 OVER-EXPRESSION IN CANCER CELLS

Detection of cancer biomarkers has become increasingly important for the early diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of cancer. Genetic biomarkers like HER2 have been associated with many types of cancers including breast cancer and gastric cancer. Furthermore, Herceptin therapeutics has been found to be particularly effective for patients with an overexpression of HER2 to improve overall survival rates. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) has been commonly used for HER2 over-expression. However, it requires expensive reagents and skilled personnel. In this work, a novel, integrated FISH microfluidic platform capable of performing the entire FISH protocol automatically to diagnose HER-2 over-expression was reported. Experimental results showed that the developed platform could achieve comparable results when compared with the manual process.