“Researchers have developed a simple blood test to detect pancreatic cancer before it spreads to other sites in the body. The test could be used for routine screening to improve the disease’s low survival rate.
Fischer and his colleagues focused on detecting enzymes called proteases, which break down proteins and are active in tumours, even from the very early stages. They specifically looked at the activity of matrix metalloproteinases involved in chewing up collagen and the extracellular matrix, which helps tumours to invade the body.
To detect the presence of these proteases in the blood, the researchers developed nanosensors containing a magnetic nanoparticle attached to a small peptide that attracts matrix metalloproteinases and a fluorescent molecule…
The researchers tested the nanosensor on frozen blood samples from 356 individuals, some with pancreatic cancer, some with non-cancerous forms of pancreatic disease and healthy controls. The nanosensor correctly identified healthy individuals 98% of the time, and identified people with pancreatic cancer with 73% accuracy. It always distinguished between individuals with cancer and those with other pancreatic diseases.”
From Nature.