Gulf War technology advances prostate cancer testing
Hon Leong, PhD, and his team in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, have repurposed a machine once used to detect airborne pathogens in the second Gulf War to aid in prostate cancer testing. The machine is now used for fluid biopsies—a non-invasive way to detect prostate microparticles in the blood in a matter of minutes. Microparticles are essentially garbage released by prostate cells that circulate throughout the bloodstream.
Most men who are more than 40 years old, regardless of their health, have detectable levels of prostate microparticles in their bloodstream. Leong’s research is the first clinical cancer research project to correlate the number of microparticles in the blood to the risk of having prostate cancer—the more microparticles, the higher the risk.
The machine uses flow cytometry to detect microparticles measuring the specific characteristics of a fluid, such as blood, as it passes through a laser.
Leong’s research provides a more accurate and less invasive testing method for patients suspected of having prostate cancer, and helps to identify patients who are at a higher risk of dying from prostate cancer.
