(273b) (Invited Talk) Developing Nanosensor Technology to Detect Cancer in Patients

We have been developing and translating a technology to detect biomarkers quantitatively in humans to enable the early diagnosis of ovarian cancer. There is no effective screening test for ovarian cancer and no reliable method of early detection. Approximately 85% of patients with ovarian cancer will have widely disseminated peritoneal disease at presentation, resulting in five-year survival rates of < 30%. This is in stark contrast to patients diagnosed with early-stage localized disease, where survival rates are over 90%. The early detection of ovarian cancer would markedly increase survival rates. Serum biomarkers have repeatedly failed to identify early disease or change mortality rates, in part due to low specificity. We believe that the measurement of biomarkers using an implantable device in the uterine cavity will allow for discrimination of benign states from malignant disease. We are working in collaboration with clinicians to develop an implantable sensor platform for protein biomarkers capable of minimally-invasive, highly-sensitive, reproducible, in vivo measurements in disease models. We demonstrated a device to implant the sensors in animals and resected human uteri. Our goal is to develop the capability for real-time and progressive patient-centered monitoring of biomarkers for early ovarian cancer detection in at-risk patients.