Quantitative heterogeneity and subgroup classification based on motility of breast cancer cells**Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11674043 and 11604030), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, China (Grant No. 2018CDJDWL0011), the Fundamental and Advanced Research Program of Chongqing, China (Grant No. cstc2018jcyjAX0338), and Arizona State University Start-up Funds, USA.

Abstract

Cancer cell motility and its heterogeneity play an important role in metastasis, which is responsible for death of 90% of cancer patients. Here, in combination with a microfluidic technique, single-cell tracking, and systematic motility analysis, we present a rapid and quantitative approach to judge the motility heterogeneity of breast cancer cells MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 in a well-defined three-dimensional (3D) microenvironment with controllable conditions. Following this approach, identification of highly mobile active cells in a medium with epithelial growth factor will provide a practical tool for cell invasion and metastasis investigation of multiple cancer cell types, including primary cells. Further, this approach could potentially become a speedy (∼hours) and efficient tool for basic and clinical diagnosis.