Diagnostic cancer test is improved

EDMONTON, Alberta, June 20 (UPI) -- Canadian scientists said an important diagnostic test for cancer has been miniaturized and automated onto a microfluidic chip.

University of Alberta researchers said their new microfluidic chip the size of a microscope slide can perform fluorescent in situ hybridization, or FISH, tests using a handheld diagnostic device.

Developed by Professor Chris Backhouse, cancer scientist Linda Pilarski and colleagues, the new FISH chip can detect mutations in chromosomes for a number of different types of cancer.

Compared with conventional methods for FISH, which can take days to perform, the on-chip FISH test can be conducted in less than a day with a significantly higher rate of processing and a reduction in costs from hundreds to tens of dollars.

And the researchers said their new technology enhances a physician's ability to tailor treatment strategies to target individual cancers.

"The ability to design 'personalized' therapies means patients will be able to receive more effective treatments sooner and avoid exposure to side effects from treatments that will not help them," Pilarski said.

The technology is reported in the journal IET Nanobiotechnology and will be presented in Greece during the 11th International Myeloma Workshop.