Scientists have developed a small probe the size of a pen that can detect cancer cells in tissue within ten seconds, enabling surgeons to determine in real-time whether they have removed the entire tumor.
Currently, most laboratories require several days to determine if residual cancer cells are present in samples taken during surgery, explain the scientists who introduced the new probe, naming it the “MasSpec Pen.”
The instrument described in the American journal Science Translational Medicine allows for the gentle extraction of water molecules from tissue by pumping a tiny amount of 10 microliters, which is one-fifth of a drop.
These molecules are directed through a soft tube to a mass spectrometer that calculates different molecular weights in the sample and determines the presence of cancer cells, state scientists from the University of Texas at Austin.
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After analyzing 253 samples of healthy and cancerous human tissues taken from the lungs, ovaries, thyroid, and breast, scientists were able to establish a “molecular profile” that allows for the identification of cancer presence with an accuracy greater than 96 percent.
Tested on live mice, the probe successfully detected the presence of cancer cells without damaging the tissue from which the sample was taken, emphasize the inventors.
