Faster Prostate Cancer Detection

Ivanhoe Broadcast News

(Ivanhoe Newswire) --  A team of Northwestern University researchers has detected previously undetectable levels of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in patients who have undergone a radical prostatectomy. 

Thanks to the power of the nanoparticle-based bio-barcode assay, the researchers found measureable PSA in each post-operative patient in the study.  The technology is 300 times more sensitive than commercially available PSA tests.  After the removal of the prostate gland, patients typically have PSA levels that are undetectable when measured using conventional tools.  This new tool may enable doctors to diagnose men with prostate cancer recurrence years earlier than is currently possible. 

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"This level of sensitivity in detecting low concentrations of PSA will take the blinders off the medical community," Chad A. Mirkin, George B. Rathmann Professor of Chemistry in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, professor of medicine and professor of materials science and engineering was quoted as saying. "The first route to a new therapeutic is a good diagnostic tool, and that's what we have here. This bio-barcode assay, or variant of it, could be a commercial tool in as little as 18 months."

SOURCE: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) October 19, 2009

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