Targeting the early detection of cancer with lab-on-chip nanohole sensors

癌症是加拿大人死亡的主要原因之一，随着加拿大人口的老龄化，预计癌症将变得更加突出。早期发现对成功治疗癌症至关重要。例如，卵巢癌在早期发现的情况下有95%的存活率，但通常是致命的，因为它直到晚期才出现症状，而且缺乏有效的筛查技术。大多数癌症缺乏单一的生物标志物或指标，这表明有效的癌症早期检测将需要在集成设备中的一系列生物传感器上对样本进行分析。该项目的目标是开发一种实用有效的癌症诊断综合设备。为了实现这一目标，该项目整合了基于无标记纳米孔阵列的生物传感、微流控处理的前沿技术，并建立了具有新型流过阵列结构的卵巢癌生物标志物。这种集成设备是芯片和读取器的结合，在灵敏度方面有望超过目前早期癌症检测的生物医学方法，并具有芯片上实验室小型化的额外好处。拟议的研究计划利用了该团队在纳米光子传感技术和芯片实验室集成方面的早期演示和专业知识。这项工作的核心是BC省癌症迪利研究中心的参与和支持，以及他们正在进行的开发用于确定卵巢癌生物标志物的试剂的工作，以及工业支持组织。这项工作将包括三个并行阶段：纳米光子传感和光学仪器的优化；捕获抗体在纳米孔阵列结构上的固定化及验证和开发样品制备和输送流体与流动通过阵列架构。这项设备开发工作的目标是为一种实用有效的癌症筛查技术奠定基础，为加拿大人的社会和经济利益奠定基础。

Cancer is a leading cause of death in Canada and it is expected to become even more prominent with Canada's aging population. Early detection is paramount to treating cancer successfully. Ovarian cancer, for instance, has a 95% survival rate with early detection, yet is commonly fatal as it is asymptomatic until late stages and there is a lack of effective screening technology. The lack of a single biomarker, or indicator, for most cancers indicates effective early detection of cancer will require analysis of a sample over an array of biosensors in an integrated device. The goal of this project is to develop a practical and effective integrated device for cancer diagnostics. To achieve this goal, the project integrates the forefront of label-free nanohole array based biosensing, microfluidic processing, and established ovarian cancer biomarkers with a novel flow-through-array architecture. The integrated device, a combination of chip and reader, is expected to outperform current biomedical methods for early cancer detection with respect to sensitivity, with additional benefits of lab-on-chip miniaturization. The proposed research program takes advantage of the team's early demonstrations and expertise in nanophotonics sensing technology and lab-on-chip integration. Central to the work is the involvement and support of the BC Cancer Deeley Research Centre, and their on-going work in developing reagents for identified ovarian cancer biomarkers, as well as industrial supporting organizations. The work will involve three concurrent stages: the optimization of the nanophotonic sensing and optical instrumentation; the immobilization of capture antibodies on the nanohole array structures and validation; and development of sample preparation and delivery fluidics with a flow-through-array architecture. The goal of this device development work is to lay the way for a practical and effective cancer screening technology, to the social and economic benefit of Canadians.