Universal Cancer Detector

A new test has been developed that could be used to diagnose any type of cancer in less than 10 minutes. The breakthrough was based on the discovery of a DNA nanostructure that appears to be common to all cancers but is distinct from healthy cells.

Tiny molecules called methyl groups are present in all DNA and function to regulate which genes are turned on and off. In healthy cells, the methyl groups are spread out across the genome. But in cancerous cells, they form clusters at very specific locations. The team discovered that when placed in a solution, these intense clusters formed three-dimensional structures that could be detected using a high-resolution microscope. They then mixed gold particles into the solution, which allowed them to determine whether the three-dimensional structures were present simply by observing a color change.

So far, the researchers have tested the procedure on more than 200 tissue and blood samples that include breast, prostate, bowel, and lymphoma cancers, with an accuracy of about 90 percent. The next step will be to expand the clinical study to include more patients and other types of cancers. They will also be considering whether the test can be useful for monitoring a patient’s response to treatment by quantifying the levels of cancer DNA in body fluids.