How magnetized wire can detect cancer cells in your blood

[Judi Lynn]

Rich Haridy
an hour ago

A fascinating cancer detection technique has been developed by scientists at Stanford University. The process involves a small magnetic wire being inserted into a vein where it attracts free-floating tumor cells in the blood, which could prove an effective way to catch the disease much earlier than current blood-based detection methods.

Many researchers are tirelessly working to find new and effective ways to detect the presence of cancer using a simple blood test. Several promising novel blood tests are in development, tracking a variety of biomarkers that may indicate the presence of cancer. But ideally, actually tracking free-floating tumor cells circulating in a person's bloodstream would be the best way to detect the disease. Unfortunately, these tumor cells are just too scarce to be effectively caught and identified in single blood samples.

"These circulating tumor cells are so few that if you just take a regular blood sample, those test tubes likely won't even have a single circulating tumor cell in them," says Sam Gambhir, senior author on the new study. Gambhir describes trying to locate these circulating tumor cells from a small blood sample as akin to finding a grain of sand in a bathtub by scooping out a single cup of water.

The innovative new method instead uses a tiny magnetic wire inserted into a vein to attract the tumor cells. In order to magnetize these free floating tumor cells the researchers engineered nanoparticles with an antibody that homes in on the desired tumor cells. These nanoparticles act as tiny magnets, so once they latch onto the free-floating tumor cells it is only a matter of time before they float past the magnetized wire and stick to it.

More:
https://newatlas.com/magnetic-wire-nanoparticle-tumor-cancer-detection/55485/

[Canoe52]

1. Sounds like something out of a science fiction book I read years ago.