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Wednesday 08 Jul 2015 - 16:30 Makkah mean time-21-9-1436
(Image from google )
Birmingham, (IINA) - Birmingham University scientists believe their gold-plated glass chip will be better at detecting prostate cancer than the existing test, Daily Mail health news reported.
The new gold standard in testing for prostate cancer is being developed by British scientists.
Inexpensive and simple to use, it could lead to all older men being screened for the disease, as well as for women for breast cancer checkups.
If the test, which requires just a few drops of a man’s blood, fulfils its early promise, it could be on sale in as little as two years.
The blood test routinely used measures levels of a protein called prostate specific antigen, or PSA, (PSA Blood Tests and Prostate Cancer Screening).
The new test only picks out the type of PSA indicative of prostate cancer; it does this by looking for a specific sugar molecule found in the PSA produced by men with prostate cancer.
A few drops of man’s blood applied are to a glass chip with a wafer-thin gold coating that only the ‘right’ PSA will attach to, much like a key fitting in a lock.
It is too early to say how effective it will be, but because it only detects one type of PSA, researcher John Fossey is confident it will be more accurate.
Dr Fossey said: ‘It’s estimated that one in eight men will suffer from prostate cancer at some point in their life, so there is a clear need for more accurate diagnosis.
‘By focusing on the sugar, we appear to have hit the “sweet spot” for doing just that.
‘Our focus now is to take this technology and develop it into something accessible to people across the world.’
From her side, researcher Professor Paula Mendes said: ‘There are two key benefits.
‘Crucially for the patient, it gives a much more accurate reading.
‘Furthermore, our technology is simple to produce and store and so could feasibly be kept on the shelf of a doctor’s surgery anywhere in the world.
‘It can also be recycled for multiple uses without losing accuracy.’
Despite the use of gold, is hoped that the test, which is described in the journal Chemical Science, will cost less than £100 per patient.
SM/IINA
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