Quick Nano-Bio-Chip Checks for Oral Cancer

Researchers at Rice University, the University of Texas Health Science Centers at Houston and San Antonio and the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center have been researching a new nano-bio-chip that with only a gentle touch of a lesion on the tongue or cheek with a brush can help detect oral cancer. This device has already shown successful results that are comparative to long, invasive techniques.


Currently, most cancerous spots are found with suspicious lesions where the patients have to end up getting scalpel or punch biopsies as often as every six months. This is the main issue with detecting oral cancer. A chunk of someone's cheek has to be taken out, which can be a very long and painful way to diagnose cancer. The minimally invasive nano-bio-chip technique would deliver results in 15 minutes instead of several days, as lab-based diagnostics do now; and instead of an invasive, painful biopsy, this new procedure requires just a light brush of the lesion on the cheek.


Nano-bio-chips are small, semiconductor-based devices that combine the ability to capture, stain, and analyze biomarkers. With this new nano-bio-chip, oral cancer will be able to be detected at an early stage. The chances for survival of cancer are greatly increased when detected early, and this nano-bio-chip will help prevent deaths by quickly detecting the signs of oral cancer.


I was particularly interested in this article because I want to be a dentist, and with this new nano-bio-chip device, I could be the first line of defense against oral cancer. Oral cancer affects more than 300,000 people a year, and I will be able to perform the procedure with the patient right in the chair to help save lives!


Sources:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100405152753.htm



Katherine Wright- VTPP 434, 502