A nanosensor detects thyroid cancer metastases

The nanosensor that can identify the metastases of thyroid cancer is ready: using laser light and tiny gold spheres that enhance their sensitivity, it can identify them reliably by detecting the presence of a single protein. Researchers from three Institutes of the National Research Council of Naples and the Universities of Sannio and Federico II of Naples have developed it. The study, published in the Biosensors and Bioelectronics journal, uses a technique that has enormous potential in the creation of biological sensors and which could also be extended to other forms of cancer, facilitating diagnosis and the identification of the most effective treatments.

The new nanosensor can identify and measure the presence of a particular protein, thyroglobulin, in biopsies of suspicious lymph nodes. Thyroglobulin, in fact, under normal conditions is found exclusively in the thyroid and its identification in the lymph nodes is, therefore, indicative of the presence of metastases. To detect this protein requires the use of complex equipment and methods, which do not give immediate results and which cannot be used in the operating room.

For this reason, the researchers led by Sara Spaziani, of the University of Sannio, have developed a fiber optic sensor, which can be used directly in the operating room and is minimally invasive. The device exploits the diffusion of laser light and allows the identification of thyroglobulin thanks to the analysis of the color of the light it reflects. This type of signal, however, is very weak. For this reason, the authors of the study added gold-coated nanospheres to the biosensor, which are able to amplify the signal even at very low concentrations of the protein. Furthermore, the nanosensor can be made both on a chip and on an optical fiber, and therefore could also be used directly inside the needle used for taking the sample.