A NEW APPROACH TO EARLY CANCER DETECTION LIJU YANG’S BIOSENSORS MEASURE CHANGES IN ELECTRICAL SIGNALS TO IDENTIFY MISBEHAVING CELLS
Cancer cells, by definition, don’t behave the way they should. They grow uncontrollably, spread to neighboring tissues, and then refuse to die. Most of these antics occur unnoticed until an irregular growth emerges or abnormal molecules materialize in the bloodstream. By that time, the cancer may have progressed past the point of being curable. Yet if researchers could spot cancer cells just as they start misbehaving, they might be able to nip them in the bud. It sounds simple enough, but scientists have spent decades looking for ways to detect cancer earlier. Some efforts like the PSA test for prostate cancer have been successful, though it and others have raised enough false alarms to be deemed less than reliable. Liju Yang, Ph.D., an associate professor of pharmaceutical sciences at NCCU’s Biomanufacturing Research Institute and Technology Enterprise (BRITE), may have found a promising solution. Yang has developed a device — smaller than the palm of your hand — that can detect when cancer cells are present. Her approach merges principles of engineering, chemistry and cell biology into a technology that could not only revolutionize cancer screening, but could also help detect other situations where cells have gone awry.
Written by Marla Vacek Broadfoot I Photos by Ted Richardson
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NCCU