Using a “chemical nose” array of nanoparticles and polymers, researchers have developed a fundamentally new, more effective way to differentiate not only between healthy and cancerous cells but also between metastatic and non-metastatic cancer cells. It’s a tool that could revolutionize cancer detection and treatment, according to Vincent Rotello, chemistry, and cancer specialist Joseph Jerry, veterinary and animal sciences. “Our new method uses an array of sensors to recognize not only known cancer types,” Rotello says, “but it signals that abnormal cells are present. That is, the chemical nose can simply tell us something isn’t right, like a ‘check engine light,’ though it may never have encountered that type before.”
