Cancer is a leading cause of death in industrialized nations. A major contributor to the lethality of cancer lies in its ability to undergo metastasis, a process in which cancer spreads from its originating site to other locations in a patientâ s body. One of the pathways that cancer spreads is through a patientâ s bloodstream. Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) detach from tumors and enter blood vessels. Studies have shown that patients with high numbers of CTCs have lower survival probabilities than cancer patients with low CTC counts. We hypothesize that it may be possible to reduce the risk of metastatic disease in cancer patients by removing CTCs from the bloodstream. To this end, this thesis investigates the design of a microfluidic device capable of isolating and destroying cancer cells mixed with blood cells. This work acts as a first step and proof-of-concept towards the development of a therapeutic platform to filter CTCs from patient blood. Dielectrophoresis (DEP), a contact-free, electrode-based cell manipulation technique is used to spatially separate CTC analogue cells (MCF7 breast cancer cells) from blood cells. Larger cancer cells experience a greater DEP force and, therefore, levitate higher than smaller blood cells. Cancer cells are lysed using irreversible electroporation, an electrode-based technique that uses high magnitude electric fields to permanently open cell membranes. Cancer cells are levitated via DEP into proximity of electroporation electrodes to localize the lysis effect in the prototype device. Localized lysis of cancer cells is demonstrated through experiments with a fabricated prototype device. A novel electrode optimization protocol was developed to aid in the design of dielectrophoresis electrodes used in cell separation. To generate new electrode geometries, electrodes are designed in a pixel-based manner using a genetic solver. Optimal electrodes obtained through this protocol are fabricated in University of Toronto cleanrooms and used in experiments. Additionally, due to the stated design goal of separating CTCs from blood cells, thrombogenesis (blood clot formation) due to DEP-based cell separation is investigated. Experiments reveal that dielectrophoresis has a suppressive effect on blood clot formation, a finding that may be extended to applications requiring clot suppression beyond the device proposed in this thesis.