UMaine Engineer Takes Aim at Cancer
Contact: Michael Mason (207) 581-2344; David Munson (207) 581-3777
ORONO, Maine — Often extremely small and notoriously difficult to detect, small tumors, rogue groups of cancerous cells and tiny pieces of larger excised tumors are a serious and potentially lethal threat to cancer patients even after surgery has been performed. Using an amazingly tiny new technology being perfected by researchers at UMaine, however, doctors may soon be able to pinpoint the location of even the most miniscule masses of cancerous tissue while the patient is still on the operating table.
UMaine Chemical and Biological Engineering professor Michael Mason is developing an improved screening technique in which nanometer-sized metal particles are used to “tag” cancer cells, allowing surgeons to identify cancerous tissue more quickly and efficiently. Guided by attached biomolecules that are attracted to specific molecules found on the surface of cancer cells, the metallic nanoparticles are optically active, capable of pointing out miniscule particles of cancer using microscopes readily available in nearly every hospital. The technique is sensitive enough to reveal even a single cancer cell.
The metallic nanoparticles being used in the research have several advantages over traditional probes and cancer screening techniques, allowing more precise and potentially more rapid screenings using a variety of methods, and could dramatically reduce surgery times. The technique could prove particularly useful in treating abdominal tumors such as those found in the pancreas and liver, which often look very similar to nearby healthy tissue.
Mason and his team will provide the foundation for cellular and tissue trials that will be conducted later this year at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center by Dr. Peter Allen. The cancer center provided Mason with the initial funding for the research.