Jack Andraka, high school sophomore and Grand Prize winner of the 2012 Intel International Science and Engineering Competition, presented his research at a talk hosted by Beta Beta Beta, Hopkins University’s biology honor society, this Monday, Oct. 22.
His invention — a piece of filter paper dipped in a concoction of antibodies and carbon nanotubes — is a major step in creating a better and more affordable method in cancer detection.
In recent decades, cancer has become one of the leading cause of death in the country. Because cancer generally does not affect a person until later stages, it is difficult to accurately diagnose and treat cancer while it’s still harmless. Usually, cancer is only detected after costly and complicated procedures. Even then, the tests are not guaranteed to detect signs of the diseases.
Andraka’s innovation is an improvement over the current method.
“Our current method of detecting pancreatic cancer, we’re looking for a protein, [mesothelin]. Now this sounds really straight forward. [However,] this is essentially like looking for a needle in a stack of nearly identical needles,” Andraka said in his presentation.
On the other hand, the antibody-carbon nanotube solution binds to the protein, causing a change in the conductivity of the nanotubes. The antibodies in the solution bind with a specific protein in blood that is produced by the body when one has cancer.
Then, the antibodies transform the arrangement of the carbon nanotubes. The bonding of the antibodies to the specified protein creates differences in the distances of the nanotubes. The arrangement of the nanotubes creates a change in conductivity obvious enough to be detected with a low-end sensor from a hardware store.
“Over 85% of pancreatic cancers are diagnosed late when they have less than 2% survival rate,” Andraka said. The shocking fact that most cancer patients are only treated when their diseases have progressed too far motivated Andraka to find a way to improve cancer detection.
There is another advantage to Andraka’s method of detecting cancer. The sptype of protein targeted tends to be at its highest levels during the primary stage of cancers, making Andraka’s method effective at helping doctors treat cancer patients.
Furthermore, because this method identifies cancerous cells at their early stages, the survival rates of these patients can be close to 100%. In tests of accuracy, the method is able to indicate presence of mesothelin at concentrations less than .2 ng/ml.
“The tests have 100 percent accuracy in the detection of pancreatic cancer,” Andraka said. In addition, the sensor is so effective that there are almost no false positives or negatives. In a comparison with the mainstream methods of cancer detection, Andraka is able to pinpoint the signs of cancer more than 100 times faster with more than 300 times the accuracy for less than 25,000 times the existing price.
Not only is the test able to accurately indicate cancers before they become invasive, but they are also very cheap to mass prodice. “The filters cost less than 3 cents to make and the tests can be performed in five minutes or less,” Andraka said.
Because of the novelty of his invention and its potential impact in the medical world, Andraka is currently seeking a patent for his discovery. In light of his success, Andraka reflects on his experiences as a high school researcher at Hopkins. “It was mainly trial and error” Andraka modestly said.
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