Microchips to Make Breast Cancer Screenings Less Invasive
Reported October 09, 2009
A new “lab-on-a-chip” technique can identify women at risk of breast cancer by taking microscopic amounts of blood and breast tissue in a non-invasive way, say researchers.
The technique would allow doctors to take very small samples of metabolized estrogen, a hormone believed to “significantly” increase the risk of breast cancer, said lead author Dr. Noha Mousa, of the University of Toronto in a press release.
“Despite this, breast estrogen levels in women at risk are not routinely measured,” said Dr. Mousa, “because conventional techniques require large tissue samples obtained through invasive biopsies.”
Researchers said the “lab-on-a-chip” uses a technology called digital microfluidics, where minute droplets of fluid are moved electrically on a microchip and are able to perform multiple lab functions.
The device, so small it can fit in the palm of a hand, allows researchers to analyze hormones in “tiny clinical samples” of blood, serum and breast cancer tissue. They then developed methods to extract hormones and purify them.
“The new methods we’ve developed may someday facilitate routine screening of clinical samples for analysis of hormones,” said Aaron Wheeler, of the Department of Chemistry. “This may be useful in many applications, including screening for risk of developing breast cancer especially in high-risk populations, and monitoring the response to anti-estrogen breast cancer therapies
such as aromatase inhibitors.”
Wheeler said the methods could also be used to monitor hormone levels in infertility treatments and also in detecting illegal doping in athletes.
The study was funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Canadian Cancer Society. It will be the cover story in the inaugural issue of Science Translational Medicine.
Source : foodconsumer.org
