The test strips, which are based on the same technology used in pregnancy tests, turn red when cancer is present.
(Credit: MIT/Bryce Vickmark)
Peeing on a stick in the privacy of our bathrooms has long been a way to help us play doctor in our own homes. Diabetics can evaluate their glucose levels, would-be-moms can check on potential new pregnancies, and even pot users can judge the level of marijuana in their blood (or just get a good giggle watching a stick change color in a urine stream).
Soon, we might be able to use the pee-on-a-stick method for detecting cancer as well.
In research published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, MIT Professor Sangeeta Bhatia reports that she and her team that developed paper test strips — using the same technology behind in-home pregnancy tests — that were able to detect colon tumors in mice.
The test strips work in conjunction with an injection of iron oxide nanoparticles, like those used as MRI contrast agents, that congregate at tumor sites in the body. Once there, enzymes known as matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), which cancer … [Read more]
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