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A new pocket-sized device may allow doctors to check a woman's
breast cancer risk in minutes with just droplets of blood or a
sliver of breast tissue, Canadian researchers said.
They said the microchip device can measure levels of the hormone
estrogen using far smaller samples than conventional methods,
making it possible to quickly screen for breast cancer risk or
check to see if breast cancer treatments are working.
"The new device is compatible with extremely small samples - around
1,000 times smaller than the amount needed for conventional
analyses," said Aaron Wheeler of the University of Toronto, whose
study appears in the journal Science Translational Medicine.
"We could replace the invasive techniques of intravenous blood
collection and even tissue biopsies with pinpricks of blood, or
fine needle aspirates of tissue," Wheeler told a news
briefing.
The experimental device advances the notion of a so-called lab on a
chip - a device that shrinks down several lab functions onto a
microchip.
Wheeler said other such tools rely on microchannels - a series of
interconnected, enclosed tubes - but these cannot process tissue
because they can clog up.
"The method we're reporting here relies on digital microfluid moved
across an open surface. Droplets essentially can be made to dance
across the surface," Wheeler said.
"There are no tubes to clog."
Faster results
More than 400,000 women die from breast cancer globally every
year.
Being able to directly test breast tissue could lead to faster test
results, Wheeler said.
Dr Noha Mousa of the University of Toronto, who worked on the
study, said the device could be used to check on the effectiveness
of breast cancer drugs called aromatase inhibitors, which block the
production of estrogen that can fuel tumours.
They include Pfizer's Aromasin, Novartis' Femara, and AstraZeneca's
Arimidex.
About 75 percent of breast cancers are estrogen-receptor-positive,
meaning they are fed by estrogen.
"This will allow us to monitor how effective that therapy is at
reducing estrogen levels," Mousa told the briefing.
It also may help identify new patients who are at risk of
developing estrogen-sensitive breast cancers, she said.
Wheeler said the device is still in the research phase. "We're
looking for funding to work on building a prototype and moving this
into commercialization," he said.
"We're anticipating within the next five years a product based on
this technology will become available."
