A team of Canadian researchers has created a prototype for a hand-held device to measure a biomarker for cancer like a blood sugar monitor, paving the way for home-based cancer monitoring and improving access to diagnostic testing. The device could be used in a medical clinic or at home, all without lab work, greatly simplifying the process for testing blood for cancer’s signature. This is how it works. A user would mix a droplet of blood in a vial of reactive liquid, then place the mixture onto a strip and insert it into a reader. In minutes, the device would measure an antigen that indicates the degree to which cancer is present. The prototype has been designed to monitor prostate specific antigen (PSA) and the technology can readily be adapted to measure other markers, depending on the form of cancer or other chronic disease, said the study appeared in the journal Angewandte Chemie.
