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| Image credit– University of Birmingham, UK |
The test works by identifying sugars, known as glycans, in blood. These sugars are attached to the prostate specific antigen, or PSA and are known to undergo distinct but subtle changes when cancer is present in the body. The research appeared May 28, 2020 in the journal Advanced Functional Materials.
Particular types of glycans are associated with different cancers – but until now, there has been no technology available to detect the glycans in an accurate, timely and sufficiently specific way.
Researchers at the University of Birmingham’s School of Chemical Engineering has developed and patented a technology that uses a synthetic carbohydrate to create mold of the specific PSA glycan associated with cancer.
Lead author Professor Paula Mendes, says the technology is very specific for the cancer-related glycan.
“What is really exciting about the technique we’ve developed is the ability to pinpoint glycans with such specificity," she said in a press release. "A PSA molecule can have 56 different sugars attached to it, but only four are associated with prostate cancer. With this test, we’re able to identify those four with certainty.”
The researchers also claim that the technique not only identifies cancer, but can tell how aggressive or advanced the cancer is. They hope to be able to adapt the technology to other cancers as well.
Editor’s note: The test has not been validated in humans, and neither the paper or the press release indicated plans for conducting such validation trials.
Sources: University of Birmingham, UK press release and Advanced Functional Materials.
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