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Tiny chip can measure estrogen in breast tissue
Published in Saudi Press Agency on 07 - 10 - 2009


A new pocket-sized device may
allow doctors to check a woman's breast cancer risk in minutes
with just droplets of blood or a sliver of breast tissue, Reuters quoted
Canadian researchers as saying today.
They said the microchip device can measure levels of the
hormone estrogen using far smaller samples than conventional
methods, making it possible to quickly screen for breast cancer
risk or check to see if breast cancer treatments are working.
"The new device is compatible with extremely small samples
-- around 1,000 times smaller than the amount needed for
conventional analyses," said Aaron Wheeler of the University of
Toronto, whose study appears in the journal Science
Translational Medicine.
"We could replace the invasive techniques of intravenous
blood collection and even tissue biopsies with pinpricks of
blood, or fine needle aspirates of tissue," Wheeler told a news
briefing.
The experimental device advances the notion of a so-called
"lab on a chip" -- a device that shrinks down several lab
functions onto a microchip.
Wheeler said other such tools rely on microchannels -- a
series of interconnected, enclosed tubes -- but these cannot
process tissue because they can clog up.
"The method we're reporting here relies on digital
microfluid moved across an open surface. Droplets essentially
can be made to dance across the surface," Wheeler said.
"There are no tubes to clog."
More than 400,000 women die from breast cancer globally
every year.
Being able to directly test breast tissue could lead to
faster test results, Wheeler said.
Dr. Noha Mousa of the University of Toronto, who worked on
the study, said the device could be used to check on the
effectiveness of breast cancer drugs called aromatase
inhibitors, which block the production of estrogen that can
fuel tumors.
They include Pfizer's Aromasin, Novartis' Femara, and
AstraZeneca's Arimidex.
About 75 percent of breast cancers are
estrogen-receptor-positive, meaning they are fed by estrogen.
"This will allow us to monitor how effective that therapy
is at reducing estrogen levels," Mousa told the briefing.
It also may help identify new patients who are at risk of
developing estrogen-sensitive breast cancers, she said.
Wheeler said the device is still in the research phase.
"We're looking for funding to work on building a prototype and
moving this into commercialization," he said.
"We're anticipating within the next five years a product
based on this technology will become available."


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