New Sensor Can Detect Cancer Much Earlier

A new biosensor chip developed by researchers at Stanford University is able to find biomarkers that indicate the early stages of cancer and other diseases much earlier than current detection methods. Detecting cancer earlier should result in earlier treatment, which in turn should help far more people survive cancer. It will also be able to tell doctors much sooner if chemotherapy is working (a few days vs. a couple of months).

The sensor is up to 1,000 times more sensitive than any technology currently in clinical use. Because the protein biomarker level in blood is extremely low in the early stages of cancer, incredibly sensitive technology is required to detect it. This sensor is ultrasensitive, being able to detect cancer-associated biomarker at the concentration of one part in a hundred billion. So far, the chip has proven to be effective in early detection of tumors in mice.

Researchers have also shown that the sensor is equally effective at being able to detect the biomarkers in any body fluid, including urine, saliva, blood, serum and cell lysates. This makes it even more useful for cancer diagnosis.

Another advantage of the technology is that it uses existing technology that is widely used in the data storage and semiconductor industries, making it relatively cheap. Therefore, this chip could soon offer an affordable way to detect cancer at a much earlier stage than is currently possible.