A unique collaboration between electrical engineers, mechanical engineers and cancer researchers may be the perfect combination to improve diagnosis, treatment and follow-up of patients with melanoma.
The National Science Foundation has awarded a $1.1 million, four-year grant to researchers at the University of Colorado Cancer Center, the University of Colorado at Boulder and the University of Texas at Dallas to develop a mechanical system the size of a wristwatch that will display the presence or absence of genetic signals of melanoma.
Engineers, working with cancer researchers, will attempt to ?wire? and color code various genes using nanotechnology to screen blood samples. The goal is to help physicians and patients visualize changes that occur in melanoma cells that indicate important developments such as disease progression or response to therapy.
The development of a panel of melanoma specific tumor markers through nanotechnology would significantly impact the way melanoma is diagnosed and treated, because the tumor markers could be detected before a tumor had grown large enough to be detected using current imaging technology. Approximately 20 percent of patients who develop malignant melanoma die of metastases present at diagnosis, but not detectable by any current imaging or biochemical techniques. Determination of who has, or will develop cancer, is an important step in the diagnosis, follow-up and treatment of cancer.
Nanomachines can be engineered to sense and pick up molecular markers of cancer cells, enabling scientists to detect molecular changes even when they occur only in a small percentage of cells. The nanoparticles are used to detect the presence of genetic changes and relay the information via electrical connections to doctors and researchers. The connections will produce different colors for different biomarkers.