Paper Strip Test Could Replace Current Pancreatic Cancer Tests

A new approach to clinical laboratory testing could eliminate the need for tissue biopsies to diagnose different types of cancer.

A 15-year-old high school student developed a diagnostic assay that experts say can be developed into medical laboratory test for the detection of pancreatic cancer. The teen’s prize-winning breakthrough test could change how cancer and other fatal diseases are diagnosed and treated.

The new approach to detecting pancreatic cancer is noninvasive, so it does not require a biopsy specimen. It is also inexpensive and fast. At a cost of about USD 3 per test, the diagnostic assay produces a result in five minutes. The detection device was a USD 50 electric meter from a home ware store. The student observed that this diagnostic test would also work with an ordinary diabetes meter.

The student, Jack Andraka, created a clinical laboratory test that uses filter paper dipped into a solution of carbon nanotubes (CN). It detects the levels of mesothelin in blood or urine. Mesothelin is a protein biomarker for pancreatic cancer

“It’s really crucial to detect [pancreatic, lung, and ovarian cancers] in their early stages where survival rates are at their highest,” Jack Andraka declared. “I focused specifically on pancreatic cancer […] due to its extremely low survival rates.”

The test can be adapted to monitor resistance to antibiotics and to follow the progression of treatment of cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy or radiation.

Related Links:
National Cancer Institute