Novel early diagnostic method for lung cancer

Under the covers

Professor Haijia Su, from Beijing University of Chemical Technology, speaks to us about the application of selenium nanoparticles (Se NPs) for the rapid and convenient diagnostic for lung cancer, and how a character from Chinese folklore helped her research group to come up with an intricate Soft Matter cover design.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer‑associated mortality in China and worldwide. In 2015, an estimated 610,200 deaths were estimated to occur in China as a result of this disease. Among patients with lung cancer, approximately 13% have small cell lung cancer.

Progastrin-releasing peptide (ProGRP) is a sensitive, specific, and reliable tumour marker for small cell lung cancers, which may indicate an early tendency of cancer metastasis. The upper normal limit of ProGRP in the circulation is about 50 pg mL^-1. If we can detect this sign of cancer as early and conveniently as possible, tens of thousands of lives could be saved.

A dot-blot immunoassay is a rapid immunodiagnostic test similar to a pregnancy test, which has attracted a lot of attention recently because it is simple and fast. In our research, we developed a simple and green method for the synthesis of spherical-shaped Se NPs, which we then used to detect the presence of ProGRP in the samples. The test only took five minutes.

Their stability, multiple active sites, and good biological properties made the Se NPs a promising nanomaterial for convenient and fast detection of biomarkers associated with cancer.