Cancer Cell Detection in Intra-Operative Surgical Margins

(Left) Cells bound to a micro array of functionalized gold dots (Right)Close-up of a single cell with a stained nucleus and membrane bound to a single site of a micro array

Current methods for diagnosing and evaluating surgical treatment of cancer tumors are slow and labor intensive. After a tumor is removed, a pathologist performs a thorough cross section analysis of a removed tumor days or weeks after a surgery is performed. If cancerous cells are still found on the outer boundaries of a tumor, called the margin, then a follow up surgery is necessary to remove additional cancerous tissue that may still be in the patient. The goal of our project is to develop a device that can be used in the operating room to quickly determine whether or not a tissue sample has any cancerous cells on its surface. A positive signal will tell a surgeon that it is necessary to remove more tissue, which can be done immediately rather than having to wait for a new surgery. Reducing secondary surgeries would improve patient well being while saving on costs. Additionally our method would keep tumor samples intact, allowing for full traditional cross sectional analysis by a pathologist.

Speed and accuracy are key to building an intra-operative device. We have developed a fast staining procedure to quickly stain cell nuclei and membranes for various markers that cancer cells are known to express more readily over normal tissue. Additionally we are developing a micro-array to bind suspect cells in a fixed pattern on a chip, which can then be analyzed by a through a micro-lens CMOS imaging array. Extensive statistical analysis can then be applied to single out cancerous cells from normal tissue.

This work is being performed in collaboration with Professor Andy Kummel, Professor William Trogler, Professor Sadik Esener, UCSD Moores Cancer Center, and the National Cancer Institute.