Nanosensors Used For First Time To Measure Cancer Biomarkers In Blood

A team led by Yale University researchers has used nanosensors to measure cancer biomarkers in whole blood for the first time. Their findings, which appear December 13 in the advanced online publication of Nature Nanotechnology, could dramatically simplify the way physicians test for biomarkers of cancer and other diseases.

The team – led by Mark Reed, Yale’s Harold Hodgkinson Professor of Engineering & Applied Science, and Tarek Fahmy, an associate professor of biomedical and chemical engineering – used nanowire sensors to detect and measure concentrations of two specific biomarkers: one for prostate cancer and the other for breast cancer.

“Nanosensors have been around for the past decade, but they only worked in controlled, laboratory settings,” Reed said. “This is the first time we’ve been able to use them with whole blood, which is a complicated solution containing proteins and ions and other things that affect detection.”

To overcome the challenge of whole blood detection, the researchers developed a novel device that acts as a filter, catching the biomarkers – in this case, antigens specific to prostate and breast cancer – on a chip while washing away the rest of the blood. Creating a buildup of the antigens on the chip allows for detection down to extremely small concentrations, on the order of picograms per milliliter, with 10 percent accuracy. This is the equivalent of being able to detect the concentration of a single grain of salt dissolved in a large swimming pool. Read more

FDA Approves New Drug For Rare Cancer Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphoma

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a new drug for treating patients with the rare white blood cell cancer Cutaneous T-cell Lymphoma (CTCL); the drug Istodax (romidepsin) is injectable and is marketed by Gloucester Pharmaceuticals Inc of Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Every year, about 1,500 Americans are newly diagnosed with CTCL, a type of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. It is a slow growing cancer that affects lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell that helps the body fight infection.

The cancer usually starts with dry skin and a red rash, and then itching that can be very severe and the skin can develop tumors that become ulcerated and then infected. In some cases the cancer spreads to the blood, lymph nodes and internal organs.

If a patient has localized CTCL they can be treated with topical agents such as special skin creams or with phototherapy, but if the cancer spreads then they usually need chemotherapy. Read more

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