L2M NSERC - A multiplex electrochemical sensing platform for early detection of breast cancer biomarkers
Description: Accounting for a quarter of all cancers in women, breast cancer (BC) is the most common cancer globally. Currently, BC is detected using mammography and routine breast examination. Unfortunately, overdiagnosis/false positives associated with mammography can increase patient anxiety and, at times, unnecessary biopsy. Additionally, mammography presents several confounding variables such as physician interpretation, poor positioning, and tumor sub-types that can result in as many as 30% of breast cancers going undetected. Breast cancer is a diverse disease with various subtypes, genetic mutations, and DNA damage and is categorized into five immunohistochemical subtypes. Additionally, other forms of disease classification consider the stage-dependent biomarkers of BC that are diagnostic, prognostic, predictive, and therapeutic biomarkers. Therefore, together with the confirmation of BC from quantification of HER2 marker, identifying the above-listed subcategories of BC would also represent an upgrade in breast cancer diagnostics and thus subsequent care.In the proposed invention we develop a new diagnostic tool to address two important limitations of current analytical assay. Firstly, the new prototype has a limit of detection for HER2 marker significantly lower than current assays, making it suitable for early BC screening (stage I and II). Secondly, we have integrated several sensors into the one multiplex platform to simultaneously detect a range of BC biomarkers.The proposed biomarker multi-analyte blood tester is lightweight, portable, battery-operated, and wirelessly controlled, so it can be easily relocated or even used outside of medical laboratories. This biomarker assay enables medical staff to make treatment decisions without in-person appointments, thus accelerating the start of treatment, improving prognosis for patients, and providing important therapeutic guidelines for health practitioners that can access and monitor the disease status remotely.
Amount: CA$20,000
Funding type: research
Funder scheme: Idea to Innovation
Start date: 2023-04-01
End date: 2024-03-31
Investigator: Anna AI Ignaszak
Institution: University of New Brunswick
Subfield: Molecular Biology
Domain: Life Sciences
Funded outputs count: 0
Funder award ID: 590719-2024
OpenAlex ID: G2751754909