Listening for Cancer Cells

Roland Piquepaille writes "According to researchers at the University of Missouri-Columbia, it's now possible to detect skin cancer cells present in blood samples by listening to the sound of melanoma cells. The scientists have used a method named photoacoustic detection, which uses a laser to make cells vibrate and ultrasound techniques to pick the sound of cancerous cells. This technique is so precise that it's possible to identify the spread of cancer even if there are only ten melanoma cells in a blood sample. Still, large clinical tests must be done before this method can be widely used."

Comments

This one's go

[ackthpt]

This one's got the Rockinpneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flue

Re:This one's go

[thewiz]

Actually, I'd bet cancer cells play the Imperial March from Star Wars.

Plus Darth Vader breathing noises.

They also found a new way to kill the cells too

[antifoidulus]

they just tell the RIAA that they are infringing on their copyrighted "sound of cancer" Clean them up real quick :P

Re:They also found a new way to kill the cells too

[stunt_penguin]

And in the naked light I saw
Ten rounds of chemo, maybe more

Tumor growing without shrinking
Pack a day, what was I thinking?

Things are going wroooong,
I'm loosing all my hair....
It's not fair

This is the sound... of Cancerrr

For those of you wondering

[$RANDOMLUSER]

It only works on melanoma (skin cancer) cells, which answers the question of "How do they know where to shine the laser?".

Re:For those of you wondering

[Stile 65]

They shine a laser at a blood sample, actually. This is only useful for detecting melanoma at an early stage of metastasis, where it's made it into the blood, but hasn't yet formed any noticeable tumors in areas of the body other than the skin.

Re:For those of you wondering

[javiator]

This test can determine the relative number of circulating melanoma cells, so it can indicate response to treatment, remission, or relapse, so it may have value to the oncologist managing treatment of Stage IV melanoma patients. You are right, catching melanoma before metastasis is key, but for the advanced cases, this could be an important test. There's lots of work to do, but I think this is a promising technique. There certainly is a lot of clinical interest in my work. John Viator Assistant Professor, Biological Engineering and Dermatology University of Missouri, Columbia

Hrm...

[Stile 65]

From TFA:

Because of melanin, melanoma is the only type of cancer whose cells will strongly absorb all wavelengths of light, emitting ultrasounds that stand out from those of other cells.

How difficult would it be to modify melanin to produce electricity (or even sugar) from light? It sounds like it has a much wider absorption spectrum than chlorophyll, which could make things very interesting for genetic engineering and/or solar power!

Re:The sound.... of cancer

[LordPhantom]

Uh, yeah, like if they were detecting prostate cancer.....
"You want me to stick the speaker WHERE????"

One must wonder

[nizo]

Do they make little screaming noises or evil laughing noises?

Re:Applicable to other cells?

[Stile 65]

TFA talks about gold nanoparticles being attached to cancer cells and used the same way. It's fairly standard for the new nanotech-based imaging modes (attach a magneto- or photo-responsive molecule to a ligand that attaches itself to a surface protein that's overexpressed in cancer cells, and see where the molecule attaches). Targeted drug delivery is being done the same way.

lasers?

[aaronots]

unfortunalely the lasers used actually cause skin cancer in the process

Re:lasers?

[javiator]

We actually used an optical parametric oscillator pumped by the third harmonic of an Nd:YAG laser...meaning the laser wavelength range was from 410-710 nanometers. You'd only get mutagenesis from a UV light source so we couldn't cause cancer in the sample. Besides, the laser irradiates a portion of cells separated from the blood sample. So the patient would never be exposed to the laser light. John Viator Assistant Professor, Biological Engineering and Dermatology University of Missouri, Columbia

G*D-damned anonymous nimrods!

[mmell]

Did you even read the article? It seemed to be from a reputable source, reporting current, important information of interest not only to /.'ers but to the world community. The article was concise, reasonably well written and dealt not with some incredibly distant possible technology but rather with a technology which could very soon be in routine use in oncology centers around the world.

I don't care if Roland Piquepaille is a shameless whore, trying to drive hits and business to his website (although I didn't see any of that in this article). In this instance, he has posted an article which is reasonably intelligent, reasonably presented (clicked through thirty pages of NYT to read thirty paragraphs of a story lately?), and likely to be of interest to /.'s target audience. What's your major malfunction, maggot?

Then again, I suppose the name "anonymous coward" says it all, eh?

what do they sound like?

[revery]

Apparently cancer cells sound very much like the Starland Vocal Band and can frequently be heard singing "Afternoon Delight" while carrying out their destructive task.

Which is just one more good reason to eradicate cancer once and for all...

Luke, use photoacoustic detection...

[fahrbot-bot]

• Luke: How was your chemotherapy treatment?
• Obi-Wan: It's as if millions of cancer cells suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.