Magnetic nanogels enable optimized capture of circulating tumor cells from blood. Publications 11 February 2018 Manuscript: Optimizing Circulating Tumor Cells’ Capture Efficiency of Magnetic Nanogels by Transferrin Decoration Magnetic nanogels with optimized PEG–transferrin linkers achieve over 80% efficiency in selectively capturing circulating tumor cells from blood. Magnetic nanogels (MNGs) are designed with the necessary features to function as highly efficient trapping materials for the challenging task of selectively capturing circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from the bloodstream. A key factor in this process is the ability to discriminate CTCs from hematological cells, which can be optimized by finely tuning the polymers used to link the targeting moiety to the MNGs. Here, we describe the relationship between the capturing efficiency of CTCs with overexpressed transferrin receptors and the different strategies used in polymer linkers to decorate these MNGs with transferrin (Tf). Heterobifunctional polyethylene glycol (PEG) linkers with varying molecular weights were coupled to transferrin in different ratios. Optimal results, with over 80% CTC capture efficiency, were obtained when three PEG linkers with a length of eight ethylene glycol (EG) units were used. These findings highlight the crucial role of linker design in developing efficient CTC-sorting systems. View Manuscript Stay One Step Ahead of Cancer. Get the latest news and innovations from Actorius delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe for regular updates Email* Yes, subscribe me for regular updates. * Subscribe

PD-L1 on CTCs enables monitoring, recurrence tracking, and minimal residual disease. Publications 3 June 2025 Circulating tumor cells and clusters exhibiting expression of PD-L1 in colorectal patients. High prevalence of PD-L1–positive circulating tumor cells in colorectal cancer highlights their role in minimal residual disease and recurrence monitoring. Background The role of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) has been well established in predicting survival in metastatic settings, particularly in breast, colorectal, and prostate cancers. However, their clinical utility has been limited due to high costs, variability in sensitivity and accuracy, and the use of cutoff-based interpretations. The biological significance of CTCs—from extravasation and invasion to their contribution to tumor microenvironment dynamics and tumor burden—suggests greater clinical relevance than is currently applied in practice. Their role in monitoring minimal cellular residual disease (MCRD), especially in early-stage cancers post-surgery, remains underexplored, including decisions regarding therapy duration in diseases such as colorectal cancer and longitudinal monitoring for recurrence. Dynamic PD-L1 expression on CTCs may indicate incomplete tumor resection or treatment response and may also reflect cellular dormancy in circulation, potentially enabling immune evasion. In this study, we report the expression of PD-L1 on CTCs and CTC clusters in colorectal cancer patients. Methods We retrospectively analyzed 666 colorectal cancer patients (63.06% male and 36.94% female), spanning early- to late-stage disease, for the presence of CTCs with and without PD-L1 expression, as well as CTC clusters. CTCs were detected using the CDSCO-approved OncoDiscover platform in 1.5 mL of peripheral blood. Cells were classified as CTCs if they were EpCAM⁺, CK18⁺, DAPI⁺, and CD45⁻, and were identified using an automated Zeiss microscope system. Results At baseline analysis, 74.25% (n = 591) of patients had ≥1 CTC per 1.5 mL of blood. CTC counts ranged from 1 to 20 cells. Among patients with detectable CTCs, 74.62% (n = 441) exhibited PD-L1 expression. The highest proportion of CTCs (~25.86%, n = 352) was observed in the 61–70 years age group. CTC clusters were detected in 13.00% (n = 156) of patients, and notably, more clusters were observed during follow-up compared with baseline. The mean CTC count (including clusters) was 1.71, while the mean PD-L1–positive CTC count was 1.02. Conclusions PD-L1 expression on CTCs may contribute to their ability to persist in circulation through immune evasion, potentially enabling dormancy via surface protein overexpression that helps them avoid elimination by immune T cells. The CTC–PD-L1 assay shows strong potential for patient surveillance both before and after treatment in assessing minimal cellular residual disease. Further clinical studies in this direction are strongly warranted. View Publication Stay One Step Ahead of Cancer. Get the latest news and innovations from Actorius delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe for regular updates Email* Yes, subscribe me for regular updates. * Subscribe

Comprehensive ctDNA and CTC profiling predicts metastasis in early breast cancer. Publications 15 January 2023 AACR 2023: Abstract PR007: Comprehensive ctDNA profiling reveals potential metastatic genomic signatures in treatment-naive early-stage breast cancer patients Comprehensive ctDNA profiling and CTC analysis in early-stage breast cancer identifies driver mutations to predict early metastasis. Background Genomic profiling has revolutionized precision oncology, impacting diagnosis, prognosis, and therapy decisions. Considering the high spatiotemporal diversity and heterogeneity of breast tumor-cell genomes, small-gene panels often fail to capture rare but important genomic alterations. Conversely, comprehensive ctDNA sequencing approaches enable the identification of under-characterized 'long-tailed driver' genomic alterations and capture intra- and inter-metastatic heterogeneity. Here, we demonstrate the clinical utility of comprehensive genome profiling with higher sensitivity to predict the possibility of metastasis in early-stage breast cancer patients. Methods We retrospectively analyzed ctDNA and genomic DNA (gDNA) from FFPE samples, as well as circulating tumor cells (CTCs), in 10 treatment-naive, hormone-positive, and HER2-negative primary-stage breast cancer patients using the OncoIndx comprehensive 600-gene panel. The panel captures all important cancer-relevant genomic alterations, including tumor mutation burden (TMB), microsatellite instability (MSI), homologous recombination deficiency (HRD) prediction, and cfDNA tumor fraction (TF). CTCs were enumerated from 1.5 ml of blood using the OncoDiscover platform, approved by the Drug Controller General of India, using anti-EpCAM antibody-mediated immunomagnetic nanoparticles. CTCs were confirmed for cytokeratin 18+ and DAPI+ markers, and the absence of CD45. Results The comprehensive genomic profile obtained from ctDNA and gDNA from the FFPE of early-stage breast cancer patients predominantly exhibited the presence of alterations in PIK3CA and ESR1 signaling pathways. PIK3CA mutations were present in 77% and 44% of baseline ctDNA and gDNA samples, while ESR1 mutations were present in 44% and 22% of baseline ctDNA and gDNA, respectively. In addition, we observed about 70% additional driver mutations in ctDNA samples, suggesting the shedding of ctDNA together with CTCs (80% positive) as a likely positive biomarker of metastasis. About 50% of the patients showed higher TMB and HRD. Notably, TF representing ctDNA varied between 13% to 27% in blood samples with a corresponding ploidy range of 2.9 to 4.7. Surprisingly, ~50% of the patient population matched the mutation profile of clinically confirmed metastatic patients. All the patients harboring potential metastatic driver alterations showed the presence of CTCs in peripheral blood. Conclusions Comprehensive ctDNA genomic profiling showed potential metastasis-driving alterations, suggesting the role of ctDNA-based liquid biopsy to predict metastasis in early breast cancer patients. We observed enhanced TF at the time of diagnosis, possibly due to the presence of distant metastasis, high disease burden, and aggressive tumor biology. Our results suggest that ctDNA dynamics at the time of disease presentation can predict early metastasis and may demonstrate the divergent response of tumor heterogeneity to treatment in early-stage breast cancer. Know more Stay One Step Ahead of Cancer. Get the latest news and innovations from Actorius delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe for regular updates Email* Yes, subscribe me for regular updates. * Subscribe

Pune start-up gets US patent for delivering drugs to site-specific organs Press Release 6 March 2023 Pune start-up gets US patent for delivering drugs to site-specific organs The patent was granted to Actorius Innovations and Research and its team that designed capsule shells using natural polymer to obtain a delayed release profile suitable for delivery of drugs to colon and rectum, said Dr Jayant Khandare, founder-director and Chief Scientific Officer of the start-up. Changes in lifestyle and food habits are leading to many colon related diseases including cancers, he said. Delivery of drugs to colorectal site is most challenging as the dosage forms have to prevent the early release of drug in stomach and intestine, he said. This patent (US Patent No. 11596607) is titled "Polymer based formulation for the release of drugs and bioactives at specific GIT sites". Khandare said the technology composition does not involve cumbersome tablet processing, coating and enteric or other polymers. It also reduces processing cost with increased patient compliance, he added. The start-up completed the bio equivalence study which was approved by Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) in September 2020, Khandare said. Click the link below to read the full article. Know More Stay One Step Ahead of Cancer. Get the latest news and innovations from Actorius delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe for regular updates Email* Yes, subscribe me for regular updates. * Subscribe

CTC and PD-L1 profiling supports therapy stratification and monitoring in cancers. Publications 16 September 2025 PD-L1 overexpression on circulating tumor cells and CTC clusters: A potential biomarker across solid carcinomas Correlation of CTC detection, PD-L1 expression, and CTC clusters highlights biomarkers for minimal residual disease and cancer progression monitoring. Abstract Background Overexpression of the dynamic protein PD-L1 on circulating tumor cells (CTCs) is a highly implicative biomarker that represents post–curative intent status, minimal residual disease (MRD), disease aggressiveness, therapeutic response, and metastatic progression. We evaluated the correlation among CTC detection, PD-L1 expression, and CTC clusters present in solid tumors, namely lung, breast, colorectal, ovarian, and prostate carcinomas. Longitudinal monitoring of CTCs remains a major focus after treatments, including surgical intervention with curative intent. Methods Retrospectively, we analyzed 328 cancer patients (male 163, female 165) across stages, consisting of a total of 383 samples with baseline and follow-ups (n = 55). Cancer types included lung (27.13%), colorectal cancer (21.95%), breast (9.75%), ovary (4.2%), prostate (3.9%), and others. CTCs and clusters were detected from 1.5 ml peripheral blood using the OncoDiscover platform approved by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization of India. The platform contains a multifunctional magneto-nanosystem mediated by anti-epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM) antibody. CTCs were confirmed as EpCAM+ve, CK18+ve, DAPI+ve, and CD45–ve. PD-L1 expression on CTCs was detected based on the linear intensity gradients of fluorescence signals using image acquisition on an automated fluorescence microscope. Results Among the 383 samples with baseline and follow-ups, 69.45% of patients had CTCs ranging from 1–11. Approximately 77% of patients were above the age of 50. The total number of CTCs observed was ~649 with a mean distribution of ~1.69. CTCs with PD-L1 overexpression were observed in 55.35% of patients (n = 266). Higher CTC prevalence was observed in lung cancer (24.75%), followed by colorectal cancer (21.57%) and breast cancer (5.89%). CTC clusters were observed in 10.18% of patient samples. Notably, concurrent positivity for both CTCs and PD-L1 expression was most prevalent in lung cancer patients, suggesting a potential aggressive disease phenotype and therapeutic vulnerability. Conclusions The findings support the integrated use of CTCs and their PD-L1 expression as a composite biomarker strategy to stratify patients for targeted therapies, immunotherapeutic interventions, and longitudinal monitoring. View Publication Stay One Step Ahead of Cancer. Get the latest news and innovations from Actorius delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe for regular updates Email* Yes, subscribe me for regular updates. * Subscribe

Actorius featured on BBC News Click Kannada with expert and patient insights. Press Release 22 March 2019 Actorius Innovations Featured on BBC News Click Kannada Actorius Innovations and Research was showcased on BBC News Click (Kannada edition), featuring an interview with Dr. Jayant Khandare and testimonials from leading oncologists including Dr. Kumar Prabhash and Dr. Pankaj Chaturvedi, along with patient experiences. In this special feature on BBC News Click Kannada, Actorius Innovations and Research highlights its advancements in cancer diagnostics and liquid biopsy technology. Dr. Jayant Khandare shares insights into the science and vision behind the innovation, while renowned experts Dr. Kumar Prabhash and Dr. Pankaj Chaturvedi provide clinical perspectives on its impact. The segment also includes powerful patient testimonials, underscoring the real-world significance of early and minimally invasive cancer detection. Watch the video Stay One Step Ahead of Cancer. Get the latest news and innovations from Actorius delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe for regular updates Email* Yes, subscribe me for regular updates. * Subscribe

Actorius at ESMO 2025 Events 17 October 2025 ESMO 2025 | 17–21 October 2025 Actorius at ESMO 2025 Some Glimpses from ESMO Know more Stay One Step Ahead of Cancer. Get the latest news and innovations from Actorius delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe for regular updates Email* Yes, subscribe me for regular updates. * Subscribe

Actorius and ACTREC Partner to Advance Clinical Cancer Research. Press Release 5 February 2026 Actorius and ACTREC Partner to Advance Clinical Cancer Research. A collaborative research initiative to study the practical utility of Circulating Tumor Cells and their capture and depletion from patient's blood as possible aid to adjunct therapeutics. Big step forward for Actorius Innovations and Research 🙌 Actorius recently signed an MOU with Advanced Centre for Treatment, Research and Education in Cancer(ACTREC) to collaborate on clinical studies and research spanning - practical utility of Circulating Tumor Cells and their capture and depletion from patient’s blood as possible aid to adjunct therapeutics. Slowing down or blocking metastasis cascade in early stage patients. Extremely bold and breakthrough innovation hypothesis. This partnership is about taking science closer to patients—generating meaningful real-world evidence, strengthening translational research, and asking the right clinical questions where it truly matters. The MOU was signed by Dr. Pankaj Chaturvedi , Director, ACTREC, and Dr. Jayant Khandare , Co-Founder & CSO, Actorius Innovations and Research. Excited about what lies ahead and the impact this collaboration can create together. Aravindan Vasudevan Rick Kamble Know more Stay One Step Ahead of Cancer. Get the latest news and innovations from Actorius delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe for regular updates Email* Yes, subscribe me for regular updates. * Subscribe

TSG mutations predict early relapse in mEGFR lung adenocarcinoma. Publications 14 March 2025 Manuscript: The impact of co-occurring tumor suppressor mutations with mEGFR as early indicators of relapse in lung cancer A set of 17 co-occurring TSG mutations has been identified as key biomarkers for early relapse in mEGFR lung adenocarcinoma. Longitudinal genomic monitoring, with a focus on clonal evolution, offers valuable insights that can inform personalized treatment strategies and potentially improve patient outcomes. Background: Lung adenocarcinoma frequently presents with EGFR mutations, often progressing on EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKls) despite an initial response. Progression is frequently driven by additional genetic changes, including mutations in tumor suppressor genes (TSGs). Understanding the role of these concurrent TSG mutations can help elucidate resistance mechanisms and guide the development of more effective treatment approaches. Materials and methods: We examined survival outcomes in 483 EGFR-mutant (mEGFR) patients from the GENIE BPC non-small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) dataset. To understand the mutational landscape and clonal dynamics, whole exome sequencing (WES) was carried out on 48 tumor samples from 16 mEGFR patients at both baseline and post-relapse. A comprehensive gene panel was applied to 200 liquid biopsy samples obtained longitudinally from 25 patients to track clonal evolution. Results: mEGFR patients with co-occurring TSG mutations exhibited significantly worse outcomes. In the GENIE dataset, overall survival (OS) was shorter [51.11 versus 99.3 months; hazard ratio (HR) 1.8, confidence interval (CI) 1.22-2.75, P = 0.003] and progression-free survival (PFS) was reduced (9.83 versus 11.48 months; HR 1.4, CI 1.03-1.91, P=0.026). WES analysis revealed 17 TSG mutations that were retained and showed clonal enrichment, particularly in early relapse (progression within 10 months of TKI initiation) or intermediate-stage relapse (relapse occurred between 10 and 20 months), indicated by increased variant allele frequency and their presence was strongly linked to early relapse. Longitudinal clonal studies further confirmed that TSG mutations co-occurring with mEGFR were often truncal, predominantly in early relapsers. Survival analysis using this subset of 17 TSGs showed significantly shorter OS (55.26 versus 99.3 months; HR 1.7, CI 1.12-2.65, P = 0.011) and PFS (9.67 versus 13.12 months; HR 1.5, CI 1.08-2.10, P = 0.013). Conclusions: A set of 17 co-occurring TSG mutations has been identified as key biomarkers for early relapse in mEGFR lung adenocarcinoma. Longitudinal genomic monitoring, with a focus on clonal evolution, offers valuable insights that can inform personalized treatment strategies and potentially improve patient outcomes. Key words: lung adenocarcinoma, tyrosine kinase inhibitor, whole exome sequencing, comprehensive gene panel, tumor suppressor genes View Manuscript Stay One Step Ahead of Cancer. Get the latest news and innovations from Actorius delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe for regular updates Email* Yes, subscribe me for regular updates. * Subscribe

Dr. Jayant Khandare Leads Actorius with Pathbreaking Innovations | ANI News Press Release 17 March 2026 Actorius Innovations pioneers' oncology care with its OncoDiscover and OncoMetastat solutions Dr. Jayant Khandare Leads Actorius with Pathbreaking Innovations in Cancer Detection and Metastasis Control Actorius Innovations and Research Pvt Ltd, a pioneering Indo-US biotechnology company revolutionizing oncology through advanced circulating tumor cell (CTC) technologies, continues to make significant strides under the visionary leadership of Dr. Jayant Khandare, Founder, Managing Director, and Chief Scientific Officer. Click the button below to read the full story Know more Stay One Step Ahead of Cancer. Get the latest news and innovations from Actorius delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe for regular updates Email* Yes, subscribe me for regular updates. * Subscribe

Chemo-specific designs for the enumeration of CTCs: advances in liquid biopsy Publications 18 December 2020 Manuscript: Chemo-specific designs for the enumeration of circulating tumor cells: advances in liquid biopsy Review on chemo-specific nano/micro substrates for efficient CTC isolation, enabling liquid biopsy, metastasis detection, and real-time cancer monitoring. Advanced materials and chemo-specific designs at the nano- and micrometer scale have ensured revolutionary progress in next-generation clinically relevant technologies. For example, isolating a rare population of cells, such as circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from blood among billions of other blood cells, is one of the most complex scientific challenges in cancer diagnostics. Achieving this level of exceptional specificity for extracellular biomarker interactions requires chemical tunability through the use of advanced materials and multistep reactions in both solution and insoluble states. This review delineates the chemo-specific substrates, chemical methods, and structure–activity relationships (SARs) of chemical platforms used for the isolation and enumeration of CTCs, thereby advancing the relevance of liquid biopsy in cancer diagnostics and disease management. We highlight the synthesis of cell-specific, tumor biomarker-based chemo-specific substrates utilizing functionalized linkers through chemistry-based conjugation strategies. The capacity of these nano- and micro-scale substrates to enhance interaction specificity and efficiency with targeted tumor cells is discussed in detail. Furthermore, this review emphasizes the importance of CTC capture and downstream processes involving genotypic and phenotypic CTC analysis in real time. These approaches enable early detection of metastasis progression, evaluation of chemotherapy treatment response, and monitoring of progression-free survival (PFS), disease-free survival (DFS), and overall survival (OS) in cancer patients. Royal Society of chemistry. View Manuscript Stay One Step Ahead of Cancer. Get the latest news and innovations from Actorius delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe for regular updates Email* Yes, subscribe me for regular updates. * Subscribe

CTC and PD-L1 detection reveals residual disease despite clear radiological scans. Publications 4 June 2024 ASCO 2024: Effect of circulating tumor cells in clinically stable patients on the conundrum of recurrence with cellular residual disease. CTC detection with PD-L1 expression reveals residual disease despite negative radiological findings in treated cancer patients. Background Despite no evidence of disease by radiological imaging, up to 30% of breast cancer cases are known to relapse after treatment with curative intent. The presence of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in stage I–II cancer patients signals the activation of extravasation and invasion processes leading to micro-metastasis and may result in poor outcomes. CTCs in blood circulation at any stage of cancer indicate detectable minimal cellular disease (MCD). Thus, the longitudinal investigation of patients with such biomarkers remains highly important for predicting recurrence, therapy escalation, and dose modifications. The expression of programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) on CTCs is a dynamic biomarker, and these cells may escape elimination by the immune system, indicating progression toward a metastatic phenotype. Methods Retrospectively, a cohort of 20 cancer patients (including lung, colorectal, breast, stomach, etc.) who had recently undergone treatment were investigated for the presence of CTCs using the CDSCO-approved OncoDiscover platform. The platform contains multi-component systems conjugated with anti-EpCAM antibodies on magnetic nanoparticles. All patients clinically represented stable disease based on previous radiological findings. CTC enumeration was performed using CD45-, EpCAM+, and CK18+ markers, along with the evaluation of PD-L1 overexpression in 1.5 ml of peripheral blood using automated motorized Zeiss fluorescence microscopy. Results Despite no radiological evidence of disease and clinically stable status, 75% (n = 15) of the selected patients showed at least one CTC. Among them, 55% (n = 11) had one CTC, 5% (n = 1) had two CTCs, and 15% (n = 3) had three CTCs. In addition, 50% (n = 10) of patients demonstrated PD-L1 expression on CTCs, while one patient exhibited a CTC cluster. Conclusions Patients showed circulating residual disease (CRD) despite clinically stable disease, indicating possible progression from localized to secondary disease. Longitudinal monitoring of CTCs with PD-L1 expression may reveal real-time residual disease, progression, regression, and actual response to treatment. CRD monitoring can improve curative outcomes by potentially enhancing progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in solid cancers. Know more Stay One Step Ahead of Cancer. Get the latest news and innovations from Actorius delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe for regular updates Email* Yes, subscribe me for regular updates. * Subscribe