Cancer Blog

Using nanotechnology, University of Toronto researchers have built a microchip they say will detect early stage cancers, reports ComputerWorld.

Scientists say the chip, built with nanowires, can detect the type and severity of the disease by sensing trace amounts of cancer biomarkers. These biomarkers are biologic molecules that indicate the presence or progression of cancer.
 
This latest nanotechnology advancement was announced just one month after scientists at the Washington University School of Medicine said they created "nanobees." In an experiment involving mice, scientists were able to use nanobees to deliver bee venom called melittin to cancerous tumor cells.

Other advancements in nanotechnology announced earlier this year were made by MIT scientists, who say they used nanoparticles to deliver genes to kill ovarian tumors in mice. In addition, MIT scientists developed gold nanoparticles that kill cancerous tumors with heat without damaging the surrounding tissue.

UK-based Oncimmune LLC recently announced an early detection blood test for lung cancer, reports the Kansas City Business Journal.

Named EarlyCDT-Lung, the test is performed solely at the company's laboratory in De Soto, Kansas. According to a recent company press release, the lab uses high-precision, liquid-handling robots and other instruments to produce more accurate results.

The test specifically measures six autoantibodies involved in lung cancer development, and detects the body's immune response in the form of antibodies to antigens. Healthy immune systems don't typically produce antibodies against normal-tissue antigens.

How do you feel about a potential blood test that could detect lung cancer? Share your thoughts on our CancerCompass Cancer Diagnosis Message Board.

Researchers have discovered a genetic marker that may predict the early onset of breast cancer in younger women.

Women diagnosed with breast cancer earlier in life tend to have more aggressive, recurrent forms of the disease than women diagnosed between 50 and 60 years of age.  Scientists performed a study of DEAR1 (ductal epithelium-associated RING chromosome 1) to learn more about how the gene's expression may affect early-onset breast cancer.

Overall findings suggest that DEAR1 becomes altered in early-onset breast cancer. Furthermore, researchers say it might be possible to use DEAR1 expression to identify women with increased risk of local recurrence.

Join the discussion about genetic testing and its role in the fight against cancer. Share your experiences with other survivors, caregivers and patients at the Cancer Compass Genetics Message Board.

A new cancer diagnosis tool may help detect pre-cancerous cells in the cervix more efficiently than a pap smear, reports Reuters.

Zetiq, an Israeli-based company specializing in cancer diagnostic tools, claims its CellDetect™ technology can detect pre-cancerous cells in 90% of patients.

During recent clinical trials, researchers collected and processed cervical smears from 74 women using a cytology method. Each smear was examined using three methods: staining with the traditional Pap method, HPV testing and finally Zetiq's CellDetect™ technology.

Overall, testing showed Zetiq's CellDetect™ technology to have an average sensitivity of 90%, higher than the sensitivity of a Pap test and similar to an HPV test, and a specifity of 74%, higher than the specifity of an HPV test and similar to a Pap test.

In a company press release, Zetiq officials say the analysis was also conducted by an independent professional.

Discuss this new diagnostic method with other cancer survivors, patients and caregivers on the Cancer Compass Diagnosis Message Boards.

MIT researchers announced this month they have made progress with a new drug delivery system that uses a nanofiber hydrogel scaffold, according to an MIT press release.

Researchers demonstrated they can effectively carry and control the release of different sized proteins within this gel, which could potentially carry and deliver insulin and the cancer drug Herceptin. They also found that depending on the density of the gel, they could control the rate of release of the drugs as well.

According to the researchers, this drug delivery system allows for a gradual release of the proteins over hours, days or months from the gel, and the gel itself eventually breaks down into harmless amino acids which are the building blocks of proteins.  Traditional drug delivery systems use synthetic polymer materials, which can contain chemicals or other toxic substances.

A new molecular imaging technology using a high-resolution gamma camera found breast cancers not detected by mammograms or by clinical exam, according to a study presented earlier this month at the annual meeting of Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).

Breast-specific gamma imaging (BSGI) findings are based on how cancerous cells function, unlike mammography findings that depend on identifying differences in appearance between normal and suspicious breast tissue. That's according to the study's lead author Rachel F. Brem, M.D., professor of radiology and director of the Breast Imaging and Interventional Center at The George Washington University Medical Center in Washington D.C.

BSGI requires mild compression of the breast and an injection of a low-dose nuclear material called a radiotracer that is absorbed by cells. According to the study, the tracer is absorbed quicker by cancerous cells because they have a higher rate of metabolic activity than normal cells.

Researchers sought to prove this new technology's effectiveness by using it on 159 women with at least one suspicious or cancerous lesion found during mammography.  Overall findings revealed additional suspicious lesions in 29% of the women, according to study authors, who also noted these newly found lesions were cancerous in 36%, or 14 of the 39 women in the study.

Dr. Brem told ScienceDaily that BSGI isn't meant to replace mammography, but may assist doctors in finding difficult-to-treat breast cancers for high-risk women with normal mammograms.

Read our blog post entitled Fewer Women Getting Mammograms for American Cancer Society suggestions on making mammograms a little more pleasant.

Stanford researchers have developed a blood scanner prototype they say can identify cancer markers in the early stages of the disease. That's according to a report published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The blood scanner uses magnetic nanotechnology to detect proteins associated with cancer, according to a ScienceDaily article on the report. The device can also detect multiple proteins at once, which researchers claim could help detect cancers sooner and help build a more effective treatment plan.

Magnetic nanotechnology helps tag cancer proteins with tiny magnetic particles, which cause a magnetic signal in the blood that can be easily detected, reports ScienceDaily.

A university professor has created two new compounds that could kill breast cancer tumors, reported ScienceDaily earlier this month.

James Turkson, Associate Professor at the University of Central Florida created two compounds that have disrupted the formation and spread of breast cancer tumors in mice. No adverse effects were observed in the mice, which effectively had the two compounds break up cancer causing proteins called STAT3.

When the STAT3 protein becomes abnormally active it supports breast cancer cells by creating a network of blood vessels to feed cancer cells, reports ScienceDaily, adding that the protein eventually promotes the spread of cancer to the blood, bones and organs.

Turkson's compounds prevent STAT3 proteins from binding, thus preventing the proteins from staying abnormally active.

Turkson's research has been published in the academic journals Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and ACS Chemical Biology. ScienceDaily also notes the professor has patents for both compounds.

Researchers at Fox Chase Cancer Center have successfully created a molecule that simultaneously attacks two separate molecules appearing on a cancer cell's surface, reports ScienceDaily.

The antibody-like molecule, nicknamed "ALM" by Fox Chase researchers, may slow cancer progression, or become a guidance system for delivering more aggressive drug therapies directly to cancerous cells, researchers told ScienceDaily. Their research findings appear in this month's British Journal of Cancer.

Most naturally occurring antibodies bind only to one specific target at a time, but researchers say ALM attaches simultaneously to two separate targets. ALM's specific targets are signaling proteins, ErbB2 and ErbB3, which researchers say connect to form a growth-promoting complex on the surface of many different cancer cells.  This growth-promoting complex is often found in head and neck cancer along with drug-resistant breast cancer.

ALM was created by taking the "active anti-ErbB2 portion from one antibody and linking it with the anti-ErbB3 portion from another," reports ScienceDaily.  Researchers, who like to refer to ALM as a delivery system and not a "warrior," say the molecule preferentially targets tumors cells with excess receptor complex over normal cells.

Rather than kill cancer cells, ALM is better suited to deliver cancer-killing drugs, researchers told ScienceDaily.

3D Doppler technology contributes significantly to evaluating suspicious breast lesions, researchers report in this month's issue of Radiology.

Researchers from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor studied 78 women with palpable or mammographic abnormalities that were already confirmed by biopsies. Of the 78 lesions, 46 were benign and 32 were malignant.

A series of color Doppler images were acquired for each patient to reconstruct the volume of a suspicious mass. There were six Doppler vascularity measurements calculated. Radiologist grayscale ratings and patient's age were all taken into account.

The researchers concluded that the images produced by 3D Doppler technology helped "considerably" to identify malignant breast tissue.