NEW DELHI, India — Researchers in the United Kingdom have developed a new blood test that could allow doctors to detect and monitor lung cancer in real time, potentially reducing diagnostic delays and improving outcomes for patients.
The technique uses Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) microspectroscopy to identify circulating tumor cells in the bloodstream. In testing, researchers were able to detect a single lung cancer cell in a patient’s blood sample.
The study was conducted by scientists from the University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust, Keele University, and Loughborough University. The method combines advanced infrared scanning with computer-based analysis to focus on the unique chemical “fingerprint” of cancer cells.
“This approach has the potential to help patients receive earlier diagnoses, personalized treatments, and fewer invasive procedures, and it could eventually be applied to many types of cancer beyond lung cancer,” said lead author Professor Josep Sulé-Suso, an associate specialist in oncology at University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust.
Circulating tumor cells, or CTCs, are cancer cells that break away from a primary tumor and travel through the bloodstream. They provide critical information about how a cancer is progressing and how well treatments are working, and they are also responsible for the spread of cancer to other parts of the body.
Existing methods for detecting CTCs are often complex, costly, and time-consuming, and can miss cancer cells altogether because those cells frequently change their characteristics while circulating in the blood.
The new technique works by directing a powerful infrared beam — similar in principle to the light used in a TV remote control, but much stronger — onto a blood sample. Different chemical compounds absorb infrared light in unique ways, allowing cancer cells to be identified by their distinctive absorption patterns.
Computer analysis of the infrared data enables rapid identification of circulating tumor cells in the sample.
Published in the journal Applied Spectroscopy, the researchers said the approach is simpler and more affordable than current techniques. It also uses standard glass slides already common in pathology laboratories, which could make it easier to adopt into routine clinical practice.
The research team plans to test the method in larger patient groups, with the goal of developing a rapid, automated blood test that could be integrated into standard cancer care pathways. (Source: IANS)
