Lab-on-chip Uses Small Blood Sample to Assess Breast Cancer Risk
A prototype was developed by University of Toronto researchers who are looking for investors or partners to help commercialize it. The device can measure estrogen from blood or tissue samples at least 1,000 times smaller than is required for conventional tests, according to a pilot study published today in the first issue of a new journal, Science Translational Medicine.
The technology will soon be used to monitor estrogen levels in a study of 200 women being treated with estrogen-blocking drugs to prevent breast cancer, said Noha Mousa, a gynecologist and researcher at the universitys Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute. It also could be used to monitor estrogen in women receiving fertility treatments, she said.
“If this technology becomes widely available, we could replace the invasive techniques of intravenous blood collection and even tissue biopsies with pinpricks” to collect blood and tissue from patients, said Aaron Wheeler, the professor of biomedical engineering who pioneered the device, in a telephone briefing yesterday.
Palm-Sized Device
The palm-sized device, dubbed a “lab-on-a-chip,” uses a technology called digital microfluidics that electrically manipulates tiny quantities of fluids as they move across the surface of a microchip. A prototype is now sitting in pieces in Wheelers laboratory. He said it could be fully developed and on the market in five years if hes able to seal a deal with investors or companies that want to commercialize it.
In about 70 percent of breast tumors, the growth of cancer cells is fueled by estrogen, a hormone secreted by a womans ovaries and other organs, Mousa said. Women with this type of breast cancer are normally given estrogen-blocking drugs after having surgery in an effort to stop a recurrence.
In current practice, the estrogen levels of these women arent routinely measured because doing so requires removing large amounts of breast tissue, Mousa said. Wheelers device might enable doctors to get a quick read on whether the drugs are working.
Other Uses
If the device can quickly and accurately measure estrogen levels in large numbers of women, it may one day be used to screen women with a family history of cancer to assess their risk, Mousa said.
The potential for the device goes beyond breast cancer patients, Wheeler said.
“This could be useful for testing for steroids to look for doping in athletes or to check for hormones in livestock,” Wheeler said. “Weve built a device that could work with any of these applications.”