As part of the project Tumor Cell Detection in Lymph Nodes (Interreg project# 122280), a better method for detecting lymph node metastases will be developed and validated to allow better staging of the patient. The current TRL level of this subproject is at TRL level 4, and will increased to TRL-7 in parallel with the Cell Puncher Pro project.
The current TRL6 level of the puncher system, the pump-unit system and the disposable items ready for counting tumor cells from the lymph node on a chip and to isolate them for genetic analysis.
The new project is sustainable and will ensure regional employment in the five Dutch and German SMEs, who jointly develop and later produce parts of the Cell Puncher Pro product platform. This side project is actually a second demonstrator for the developed products.
Lymph node metastases are among the major prognostic factors in various types of cancer (including head and neck cancer, prostate cancer and breast cancer). With the current diagnostics, individual tumor cells and (micro-) metastases in a lymph node are overlooked and the patient can be mistakenly classified as lymph node negative (pN0). If this classification is wrong, the patient will receive a less effective treatment with worse outcomes.
