Nano-needles to replace cancer biopsies?

A biopsy is a common surgical procedure during which a sample of tissue or organ is removed to determine the presence or absence of cancer cells. However, this examination can be a source of apprehension for the patient. Researchers have developed nanoneedle patches to replace biopsies.

Biopsy is an 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐫𝐞 which, even if every effort is made to make it as painless as possible, can be a 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 for the patient. This examination can be delayed or avoided by the patient, although it can provide 𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, early diagnosis, and more regular follow-up. A team has just published in 𝑁𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑁𝑎𝑛𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑐ℎ𝑛𝑜𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑦 promising results obtained with a 𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐨-𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐥𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 they have developed.

The patch format has the advantage of being 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 than a conventional biopsy or blood test, as the nano-needles are 𝟏,𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐚 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐫. In the pre-clinical stage, results showed that nano-needles were able to extract lipids, proteins, and mRNA, 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐝𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐞. This also means that the same area can be 𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐲𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬, unlike conventional biopsies. Molecular analysis of the samples is then used to confirm or refute the presence of a tumor.

These results pave the way for 𝐯𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬. For example, in order to perform deep-tissue biopsies, researchers are studying the addition of nanoneedles to 𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐜 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬. Since results can be obtained quickly, the use of these patches could also be very useful 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐮𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐬.