Potomac, Md. – November 03, 2026 -- Creatv MicroTech is applying for CLIA approval for its LifeTracDx blood test and plans to file for FDA approvals across multiple cancer diagnostic applications, according to a profile of founder Cha-Mei Tang issued by The Inner Circle.

Microfilter built in 2010 led to discovery of cancer-associated macrophage-like cells

Creatv developed a microfilter in 2010 to capture circulating tumor cells from the blood of cancer patients. From the first patient sample, the filter also captured numerous giant cells that cancer researchers had previously ignored. Tang and Daniel L. Adams, now Chief Scientific Officer, analyzed the cells and identified them as macrophages that engulf tumor cells. The team named them cancer associated macrophage-like cells (CAMLs).

Creatv says CAMLs are found in all cancer types and stages but not in healthy individuals. The company describes them as the most useful biomarkers available for cancer screening and diagnostics.

LifeTracDx targets six clinical uses across all cancer types

According to Creatv, clinical data indicate the test can:

• provide real-time prognosis at any time;
• predict treatment response about 30 days after the first dose;
• serve as a companion diagnostic without requiring tissue;
• monitor biomarker expression, such as changes in PD-L1 on the tumor, which predicts response to immunotherapy;
• detect cancer recurrence and minimal residual disease (MRD);
• deliver high-quality tumor DNA for sequencing.

The laboratory procedure is performed primarily by the Creatv Bio division of Creatv MicroTech.

Drug-company collaborations remain the initial commercial focus

Creatv is working with cancer drug companies to help them understand how their drugs perform, and that work will continue. The CLIA application would enable some LifeTracDx tests to run at the company's CLIA-certified laboratory in Monmouth Junction, N.J. The FDA applications are planned but not yet filed.

Tang combines MIT degrees with Naval Research Laboratory physics career

Tang holds a Doctor of Science, Master of Science and Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT. She headed the Radiation and Accelerator Physics Section at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, researching relativistic electron beams and free electron lasers, and took a sabbatical at NIST before founding Creatv MicroTech.

Her recognitions include Fellow of the American Physical Society (1990), the WISE Award for Science (1992), IEEE Senior Member (1995) and the R&D 100 Award (2006). Creatv MicroTech was named Bioscience Company of the Year in Montgomery County, Maryland, in 2013. Tang was inducted into Marquis Who's Who and Continental Who's Who in 2024.