$1 test for prostate cancer

Scientists at the University of Central Florida (UCF), led by Qun ‘Treen’ Huo, have developed a prostate cancer test that is said to be faster, cheaper, more sensitive and more accurate than the standard PSA test for early-stage prostate cancer.

The PSA (prostate-specific antigen) test measures the blood level of the protein PSA. The higher a man’s PSA level, the more likely it is that he has prostate cancer. But since there are additional reasons for having an elevated PSA level, the test produces many false-positive results - leading to painful biopsies and extreme treatments.

Huo’s test, on the other hand, uses tiny gold nanoparticles to detect the body’s immune response to the development of a cancerous tumour - ie, the production of antibodies. When a few drops of blood serum from a finger prick are mixed with the nanoparticles, certain cancer biomarkers cling to the surface of the particles, increasing their size and causing them to clump together.

Huo and her team at UCF’s NanoScience Technology Center developed a technique known as nanoparticle-enabled dynamic light scattering assay (NanoDLSay) to measure the size of the particles by analysing the light they throw off. That size reveals whether a patient has prostate cancer and how advanced it may be.

“What’s different and unique about our technique is it’s a very simple process, and the material required for the test is less than $1,” Huo said. “And because it’s low-cost, we’re hoping most people can have this test in their doctor’s office.”

Recent studies found that, unlike the PSA, Huo’s technique could determine with 90-95% confidence that the result is not false-positive. The test also has 50% confidence in overcoming false-negatives, which is significantly higher than the PSA’s 20%. The study results have been published in the journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces.

Huo’s team is now pursuing more extensive clinical validation studies with Florida Hospital and others in the hope that the new test will be used by physicians in two to three years. Huo is also researching her technique’s effectiveness as a screening tool for other tumours.

“Potentially, we could have a universal screening test for cancer,” she said. “Our vision is to develop an array of blood tests for early detection and diagnosis of all major cancer types, and these blood tests are all based on the same technique and same procedure.”

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