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Ibsen chip scope
Photo Credit: OHSU/Christine Torres Hicks
Scientific Frontline: Extended "At a Glance" Summary: Nanoparticle-Based Pancreatic Cancer Detection
The Core Concept: A novel, non-invasive liquid biopsy technique that utilizes electronic microchips to capture and analyze tumor-shed nanoparticles from the blood to detect early-stage pancreatic cancer.
Key Distinction/Mechanism: Unlike traditional imaging or invasive tissue biopsies (which historically yield a 79% success rate), this method applies a targeted electronic jolt (dielectrophoresis) to isolate circulating nanoparticles. It then uses fluorescent staining to identify tumor biomarkers, achieving a 97% accuracy rate in distinguishing active cancer from benign pancreatic diseases.
Major Frameworks/Components:
- Dielectrophoresis: Utilizing a localized electronic jolt on a microchip to attract and selectively recover specific nanoparticles from a standard blood draw.
- Nanoparticle Shedding Analysis: Exploiting the biological mechanism where cancerous tumors secrete an abundance of particles carrying distinct cell-free DNA and protein biomarkers.
- Fluorescent Staining: Applying fluorescent markers to the collected nanoparticles to illuminate the presence of specific malignant biomarkers.
- Liquid Biopsy Pathology: Analyzing the isolated particles to successfully differentiate between aggressively cancerous pancreatic tumors and benign precancerous lesions without physical tissue extraction.
Branch of Science: Oncology, Biomedical Engineering, Nanomedicine.
Future Application: Implementing routine diagnostic blood tests for individuals at high risk due to family history, and sparing patients from invasive diagnostic surgeries for benign masses. The technology is estimated to be ready for clinical use in approximately five years.
Why It Matters: Pancreatic cancer is notoriously difficult to detect early because the organ sits deep within the body, typically remaining asymptomatic until advanced, difficult-to-treat stages. This highly accurate, non-invasive screening method offers a critical pathway to early detection, which is vital for improving overall patient survival rates.
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| Stuart Ibsen, Ph.D., led the team that developed a new technique using an electronic jolt and nanoparticles to reveal the telltale signal of an insidious form of cancer. Photo Credit: OHSU/Christine Torres Hicks |
Scientists at Oregon Health & Science University have developed a new technique using an electronic jolt and nanoparticles to reveal the telltale signal of an insidious form of cancer.
The technique, described in a study published in the journal Small, offers a new way to detect early signs of pancreatic cancer—a particularly deadly type of cancer because it is not detected until it has progressed to later stages that are difficult to treat effectively. The new method would involve a simple blood draw for people considered to be at high risk due to family history or other factors.
“The pancreas is deep inside the body. It’s not like skin cancer you can see or a lump that you can feel,” said senior author Stuart Ibsen, PhD, associate professor of biomedical engineering in the OHSU School of Medicine and the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute. “By the time people experience jaundice or abdominal pain, it’s usually already progressed to an advanced stage.”
The sophisticated technique uses a small electronic jolt on a microchip to collect nanoparticles shed by tumors into the blood. The next step involves fluorescent staining to reveal biomarkers associated with pancreatic cancer.
In a new collaborative study with OHSU’s Brenden-Colson Center for Pancreatic Care, researchers compared blood drawn from thirty-six people, including those known to have pancreatic cancer and a control group of people with other noncancerous forms of pancreatic disorders, such as pancreatitis.
The study was blinded, so the researchers did not know which samples came from the cancer patients.
The results were strikingly effective, demonstrating a 97% likelihood of correctly distinguishing people with cancer from those with benign pancreatic disease. That is far higher even than direct biopsies of the pancreas itself. Typically, the invasive technique—involving tissue retrieval using ultrasound-guided fine needles—reveals 79% of pancreatic cancers.
“The more cancer biomarkers, the brighter the electrodes on the chip become,” Ibsen said.
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| Ibsen lab Photo Credit: OHSU/Christine Torres Hicks |
The new technique benefits from the fact that cancerous tumors secrete an abundance of a particular type of nanoparticle—easily sampled with a simple blood draw.
“Whatever biomarkers the tumor has are carried on these little particles,” Ibsen said. “Our technology allows us to detect those particles.”
Even better, the study demonstrates that scientists can distinguish cancerous pancreatic tumors from benign precancerous lesions, which cannot typically be accomplished through imaging alone. Discerning the difference could mean sparing patients an invasive surgery to remove a mass that turns out to be benign.
“The information from our blood test could help the surgeon know whether this is something that really needs to come out,” Ibsen said.
Ibsen estimates the technique is probably five years away from clinical use.
Funding: The research was supported by the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health (award R37CA258787) and the Pancreatic Cancer Detection Consortium (award U01CA278923).
Disclaimer: The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH or other funders.
Published in journal: Small
Authors: Anna Malakian, Augusta Modestino, Jesus Bueno, Archana Machireddy, Jason Ware, Sean Hamilton, Ella Stimson, Sarah Mitchell, Joshua C. Saldivar, Ashley R. Woodfin, Corey M. Dambacher, Kyle Gustafson, Delaney Shea, Srivathsan Ranganathan, Mehrzad Sasanpour, Christian Ross, Dove Keith, Jeong Youn Lim, Xubo Song, Scott M. Lippman, Rosalie Sears, Terry Morgan, Michael Heller, and Stuart D. Ibsen
Source/Credit: Oregon Health & Science University | Erik Robinson
Reference Number: ongy050326_01