Hand-held device to read cancer biomarkers (tumor-markers) even from home

Here is another possible ground-breaking discovery, from researchers at McMaster and Brock universities. They have jointly created a prototype of a hand-held device to measure a biomarker for cancer, thus paving the way for home-based cancer monitoring and to improve access to diagnostic testing.

The device works much like the monitors that diabetics use to test their blood-sugar levels and could be used in a medical clinic or at home, all without lab work, greatly simplifying the process for testing blood for cancer's signature.

A user would mix a droplet of blood in a vial of reactive liquid, then place the mixture onto a strip and insert it into a reader. In minutes, the device would measure an antigen that indicates the degree to which cancer is present.

As of now, the only monitors prostate specific antigen (PSA) but no doubt the technology can readily be adapted to measure other markers, depending on the form of cancer or other chronic disease.
The ability to collect such information at home would make the daily lives of patients much easier while also generating accurate, shareable, up-to-the-minute results to guide their doctors in shaping care and treatment -- all at a lower cost to the health-care system. And it would also allow patients to continue to monitor their health after treatment.

Source: Science Daily; https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201019103512.htm