CSIR-NIIST researchers develop simple blood test to detect cancer and Alzheimer’s

CSIR-NIIST team develops diagnostic platform for early detection of cancer and Alzheimer's through simple, affordable blood test. Cost of test expected to be below ₹200.

In an exciting new development, a multidisciplinary team of researchers at CSIR-National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (NIIST), Thiruvananthapuram, has claimed that they are very close to perfecting the clinical validation of a diagnostic platform, which will enable the early detection of many cancers and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) through a simple and affordable blood test.

Also read |Early detection of tumours can help treat breast cancer, say experts

“A “ground-breaking” project, we have already completed Phase 1 of the pilot studies for the primary clinical validation of the diagnostic modality we have developed, on the platform of the highly sensitive technique of surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). We hope to perfect this through larger trials involving multiple clinical partners soon,” says Dr. C. Anandharamakrishnan, the Director of CSIR-NIIST.

After research spanning over eight years, the team at NIIST had developed a SERS-based diagnostic platform and functionalised nanoparticle probes which enabled the detection of various grades of cervical cancer and the three major biomarkers for breast cancer from tissue samples. This technology has already been patented.

“We wanted to take our extensive experience with Raman spectroscopy in medical diagnostics a step ahead and build a non-invasive cancer detection modality on the same platform. By integrating SERS with artificial intelligence (AI), we have now developed mathematical models, which can analyse the biomolecular Raman fingerprints reflected in blood samples and detect early metabolic changes indicative of cancer,” Dr. Anandharamakrishnan says.

Raman spectroscopy, invented in 1928, is a powerful analytical technique which has the potential to provide valuable insights into the molecular composition and structure of a sample by measuring the scattering of laser light

Since the past 10-15 years, SERS, an enhanced form of conventional Raman spectroscopy, has generated much interest as a possible tool to aid non-invasive cancer detection, because of its potential for picking up early metabolites or cancer biomarkers in blood (also known as “liquid biopsy”). Raman spectroscopy is particularly suited to analysing blood due to its high sensitivity for biomolecules, rapid analysis, and results, lack of sample preparation, and non-destructive nature, according to the literature.