Hand-held device reads levels of cancer biomarker
Researchers create technology that reads cancer biomarker like a blood-
sugar monitor

Date:
October 19, 2020
Source:
McMaster University
Summary:
Researchers have created the prototype for a hand-held device
to measure a biomarker for cancer, paving the way for home-based
cancer monitoring and to improve access to diagnostic testing.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Researchers at McMaster and Brock universities have created the prototype
for a hand-held device to measure a biomarker for cancer, paving the way
for home- based cancer monitoring and to improve access to diagnostic
testing.


==========================================================================
The device works much like the monitors that diabetics use to test their
blood- sugar levels and could be used in a medical clinic or at home,
all without lab work, greatly simplifying the process for testing blood
for cancer's signature.

A user would mix a droplet of blood in a vial of reactive liquid, then
place the mixture onto a strip and insert it into a reader. In minutes,
the device would measure an antigen that indicates the degree to which
cancer is present.

The prototype has been designed to monitor prostate specific antigen
(PSA) and the technology can readily be adapted to measure other markers, depending on the form of cancer or other chronic disease.

The ability to collect such information at home would make the daily
lives of patients much easier while also generating accurate, shareable, up-to-the- minute results to guide their doctors in shaping care and
treatment -- all at a lower cost to the health-care system.

The device would also allow patients to continue to monitor their health
after treatment.

The prototype was created by a research collaboration led by McMaster's
Leyla Soleymani, a biomedical engineer and Canada Research Chair in Miniaturized Biomedical Devices, and Brock's Feng Li, an associate
professor of chemistry who leads a bioanalytical chemistry lab.

Soleymani's team (also including Sarah Traynor and Richa Pandey) was responsible for the hardware, including the chip that reads the sample,
while Li's team (also including Guan Wang) created the technology that
analyzes the sample.

"This is another step toward truly personalized medicine," Soleymani says.

"We're getting away from centralized, lab-based equipment for this kind of testing. This would make monitoring much more accessible and cut down on
the number of times patients need to leave home to provide blood samples." "Once commercialized, this device will be a paradigm shift for cancer
diagnosis and prognosis," Li says. "Since this device is a lot more
accessible and user- friendly than conventional technologies, patients
will be more willing to use it, which can improve clinical outcomes and
save lives." The researchers' proof-of-concept work is described in an
article published in the journal Angewandte Chemie. The invention will
need to be tested more broadly before earning the regulatory approvals
that would permit commercial manufacturing.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by McMaster_University. Original written
by Wade Hemsworth.

Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Sarah M. Traynor, Guan A. Wang, Richa Pandey, Feng Li, Leyla
Soleymani.

Dynamic Bio‐Barcode Assay Enables Electrochemical
Detection of a Cancer Biomarker in Undiluted Human Plasma:
A Sample‐In‐Answer‐Out Approach. Angewandte
Chemie, 2020; DOI: 10.1002/ange.202009664 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201019103512.htm

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