A new $900,000 grant from the Cancer Prevention & Research Institute (CPRIT) to Wei-Chuan Shih, professor of electrical and computer engineering, will support efforts to develop a next-generation blood test aimed at improving lung cancer detection.
The technology uses a biochip-based platform to directly detect and analyze tumor-secreted exosomes from a tiny blood sample, potentially enabling more precise and less invasive cancer diagnostics.
In cancer detection, analyzing exosomes, which contain DNA and RNA, among other things, can provide direct insight into the state and identity of a cancerous cell. But current technologies for such detection are lacking, often unable to isolate or detect exosomes with precision, instead relying on inconsistent processing methods and large blood samples, limiting the level of detail they can provide about a patient’s cancer.
“Current analysis of circulating tumor exosomes (CTE) can only generate an overly simplistic binary outcome and lacks sufficient dynamic range,” Shih said. “Our proposal builds a biochip and automated detection technique that pushes the envelope of CTE assay by eliminating isolation and purification and directly counts and profiles exosomes from 20 microliters of blood plasma.”
The grant, “Purification- and Isolation-free eXosomE profiLing (PIXEL) for lung cancer detection,” was awarded on May 20. It pushes active funding for cancer research by UH professors to more than $11 million.
“I’m honored and grateful to the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) for awarding our team a new grant to further develop and validate our nanophotonic liquid biopsy technology for lung cancer detection,” he wrote after receiving the grant. “This support is a meaningful validation of our vision to improve cancer diagnostics and healthcare through advanced bioengineering and imaging technologies.”
Shih will team with MD Anderson Cancer Center’s Suspicion of Cancer Clinic to establish reliability, repeatability and diagnostic accuracy using patients seen at the clinic. For more information about Shih’s research and his Nano Bio Photonics Group, visit his lab’s website.