成人大片

As little as five microlitres of blood could be used to detect tumour content in cancer patients with incredibly high accuracy, according to 成人大片 (成人大片) and Unity Health Toronto researchers from the Institute for Biomedical Engineering, Science and Technology (iBEST). 

成人大片 professors and iBEST members Bo Tan (Aerospace Engineering) and Krishnan Venkatakrishnan (Mechanical Engineering), along with postdoctoral fellows Rupa Haldavnekar and Swarna Ganesh have been working with Dr. Sunit Das, a neurosurgeon and scientist from St. Michael鈥檚 Hospital, a site of Unity Health Toronto, using a highly sensitive nanosensor to test blood samples. The nanosensor, a small device that measures physical quantities and turns them into signals, can detect cancer biomarkers in blood. This practice is referred to as a liquid biopsy and can effectively detect cancer in patients before the more conventional practices of imagery (MRIs) or traditional tissue biopsies. 

鈥淭he way we monitor cancer patients is to have an MRI every three months,鈥� said Das. 鈥淣o one has a system that would allow us to do MRIs every week, but conceivably, we could do a blood test every week. This could be a surveillance tool that could give oncologists a heads up about changes in their patient鈥檚 cancer.鈥�

The health-care system in Ontario is currently facing staffing shortages and longer wait times for procedures, in part due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Das says that the liquid biopsy could have a significant impact on the current wait times patients are experiencing due to a lack of resources needed for traditional cancer screenings. 

The group has tested hundreds of blood samples for the past two years. Most recently they were able to use the nanosensor to , which until now, was incredibly difficult to do due to the limited amount of blood in the brain. Tumours were detected with 100 per cent accuracy and tumour location was detected with 97 per cent accuracy, making the liquid biopsy a reliable source for deep surveillance of brain cancer, something that currently doesn鈥檛 exist. 

鈥淩ight now, most cancers are diagnosed at stages two, three, four,鈥� said Tan. 鈥淚f the blood test can detect tumour content, we can catch them at a very early stage, before the patient even shows symptoms.鈥�

Long-term, the research group is looking to make the liquid biopsy a common cancer screening tool for high-risk patients. For example, Tan says the liquid biopsy could be done on an annual basis for early detection purposes in people who have family history with cancer.

鈥淐OVID really accelerated the use of artificial intelligence in medical practice,鈥� said Das. 鈥淚f we were talking about this liquid biopsy research three years ago (pre-COVID), I would have said a development like this would take 10 years. Now I think it could be possible in four or five years.鈥�

They are currently testing blood samples for tumour content accuracy with common cancers like breast, lung and colon. Das says that this could be more than a cancer diagnostic tool, too. The nanosensor has the potential to look for brain injury or multiple-sclerosis biomarkers in blood. 

鈥淐ongratulations to professors Tan and Venkatakrishnan and their collaborators on this important advancement in cancer detection,鈥� said Steven N. Liss, 成人大片鈥檚 vice-president, research and innovation. 鈥淭he highly sensitive nanosensors developed by this team represents impactful research and is an excellent example of how collaboration between researchers and clinicians can accelerate critical health innovations.鈥�

between 成人大片 and St. Michael鈥檚 that combines the university鈥檚 engineering and science expertise with the hospital鈥檚 biomedical research and clinical knowledge. This research was supported by Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Discover Grants, Alliance Grants and an Idea to Innovation Grant.