The shape of nanoparticles in body fluids may help identify the type of cancer

A recent study by scientists at Nihon University has shown that the shape of "extracellular vesicles" (ev), derived from cells in body fluids, can be used as a biomarker to identify cancer types

Early detection of cancer tumors in the body is a necessary condition for effective treatment

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are biological particles with a diameter of about 100 nanometers, which are secreted by various cells and exist in body fluids such as blood and urine

Previous studies used electron microscopes to observe images of electric vehicles of various shapes

Using this device, the team successfully measured the shapes of EVs extracted from cultured liver, breast and colon cancer cells and normal breast cells, and found that their shape distributions are different from each other

Then, the research team compared the shape distribution of ev in blood samples from breast cancer patients and non-cancer patients

Takao Yasui, one of the authors of the study and an associate professor at the Nagoya University Graduate School of Engineering, said: "In this study, we found that the type of cancer can be identified by measuring the shape of the EV in the body fluid

Researchers pointed out that measuring more types of electric vehicles will provide them with a more accurate distribution of potential electric vehicle shapes, which can be used as indicators for cancer detection, screening and diagnosis

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"Rapid Discrimination of Extracellular Vesicles by Shape Distribution Analysis," was published online in the journal Analytical Chemistry on April 28, 2021, at https:/ / pubs.