Inhalable Nanosensor Technology Could Enable Early Lung Cancer Detection

A novel technology based on nanosensors may be able to effectively diagnose lung cancer, according to a study published in Science Advances.

The nanosensors are delivered via an inhaler or nebulizer. If the sensors encounter cancer-linked proteins in the lungs, they produce a signal that accumulates in the urine, where it can be detected with a simple paper test strip. The investigators noted that the sensors consist of polymer nanoparticles coated with a reporter, which acts as a DNA barcode and is cleaved from the particle when the sensor encounters enzymes called proteases. These enzymes are usually overactive in tumors.

This novel approach could potentially replace or supplement the current gold standard for diagnosing lung cancer, low-dose computed tomography (CT). It could also have a notable impact in low- and middle-income countries where CT scanners are not widely available, the researchers noted, and provide a dramatic improvement in lung cancer screening.

“Around the world, cancer is going to become more and more prevalent in low- and middle-income countries. The epidemiology of lung cancer globally is that it’s driven by pollution and smoking, so we know that those are settings where accessibility to this kind of technology could have a big impact,” said Sangeeta Bhatia, the John and Dorothy Wilson Professor of Health Sciences and Technology and of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT and a member of MIT’s Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research and the Institute for Medical Engineering and Science, via a press release.

The researchers assessed the diagnostic system in a mouse model, which was given to mice who developed lung tumors similar to those seen in humans. The sensors were administered 7.5 weeks after the tumors started to form, a time point that would likely correlate with stage I or II cancer in humans.

In their first set of experiments in the mice, the researchers measured the levels of 20 different sensors designed to detect different proteases. Researchers used a machine learning algorithm to analyze the results and found that a combination of just 4 sensors yielded diagnostic results. When used in combination with the mouse model, the researchers found that it could accurately detect early-stage lung tumors.

“The idea would be you come in and then you get an answer about whether you need a follow-up test or not, and we could get patients who have early lesions into the system so that they could get curative surgery or lifesaving medicines,” Prof. Bhatia said.