A Reappraisal of Circulating Fetal Cell Noninvasive Prenatal Testing

Meysam Rezaei; Marnie Winter; Deirdre Zander-Fox; Clare Whitehead; Jan Liebelt; Majid Ebrahimi Warkiani; Tristan Hardy; Benjamin Thierry

doi:10.1016/j.tibtech.2018.11.001

A Reappraisal of Circulating Fetal Cell Noninvasive Prenatal Testing

Trends Biotechnol. 2019 Jun;37(6):632-644. doi: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2018.11.001. Epub 2018 Nov 27.

Authors

Meysam Rezaei¹, Marnie Winter¹, Deirdre Zander-Fox², Clare Whitehead³, Jan Liebelt⁴, Majid Ebrahimi Warkiani⁵, Tristan Hardy⁶, Benjamin Thierry⁷

Affiliations

¹ Future Industries Institute and ARC Centre of Excellence in Convergent Bio and Nano Science and Technology, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes Campus, Mawson Lakes, South Australia, Australia; Joint first authors. Electronic address: https://twitter.com/@CBNSSA.
² Repromed, Dulwich, South Australia, Australia.
³ Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
⁴ South Australian Clinical Genetics Service, Women's and Children's Hospital, Adelaide, Australia.
⁵ School of Biomedical Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, Ultimo NSW 2007, Australia; Institute of Molecular Medicine, Sechenov First Moscow State University, Moscow 119991, Russia.
⁶ SA Pathology, Adelaide, Australia; Repromed, Dulwich, South Australia, Australia. Electronic address: Tristan.Hardy@sa.gov.au.
⁷ Future Industries Institute and ARC Centre of Excellence in Convergent Bio and Nano Science and Technology, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes Campus, Mawson Lakes, South Australia, Australia; http://bionanoengineering.com/. Electronic address: https://twitter.com/@CBNSSA.

PMID: 30501925
DOI: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2018.11.001

Abstract

New tools for higher-resolution fetal genome analysis including microarray and next-generation sequencing have revolutionized prenatal screening. This article provides commentary on this rapidly advancing field and a future perspective emphasizing circulating fetal cell (CFC) utility. Despite the tremendous technological challenges associated with their reliable and cost-effective isolation from maternal blood, CFCs have a strong potential to bridge the gap between the diagnostic sensitivity of invasive procedures and the desirable noninvasive nature of cell-free fetal DNA (cffDNA). Considering the rapid advances in both rare cell isolation and low-input DNA analysis, we argue here that CFC-based noninvasive prenatal testing is poised to be implemented clinically in the near future.

Keywords: circulating fetal cell; noninvasive prenatal testing; prenatal screening; rare cells.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Biomarkers / blood
Female
Fetus / cytology*
Humans
Noninvasive Prenatal Testing*
Predictive Value of Tests
Pregnancy

Substances

Biomarkers