Researchers open ‘window to the brain’ with powerful cancer tech

[Sly Saint]

Technology created at The University of Queensland could improve the odds of surviving brain cancer and change how we treat a range of neurological conditions.
Dr Richard Lobb and Dr Zhen Zhang from UQ’s Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology have opened a ‘window to the brain’ with a new diagnostic device that can tell how deadly brain tumours respond to treatment from a simple blood test.

The new device, called a Phenotype Analyzer Chip, was developed in the laboratory of ARC Laureate Professor Matt Trau and reads tiny biological particles in a patient’s bloodstream to get fast and accurate information on glioblastoma.

Dr Lobb said Glioblastoma was the most common form of brain cancer in Australia and is considered particularly deadly because of its delicate location, aggressive growth and limitations in accurate therapeutic monitoring.

“There has been very little success so far in clinical trials for new and experimental glioblastoma treatments,” Dr Lobb said.

“That’s partly because there is no way to tell if a therapy is working precisely as it should at that moment without drilling into someone’s head.”

Dr Zhang said the Phenotype Analyzer Chip works by examining small samples of blood and capturing messenger cells known as extracellular vesicles that originate from glioblastoma tumour tissue. The device has been validated in more than 40 brain cancer patients and the Trau lab is now engaging with translational partners to implement the technology into clinical trials.

Technology could be tweaked for other neurological conditions​

As well as monitoring brain cancers, Dr Lobb said the new chip also had the potential to unlock therapies for neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Motor neurone disease (MND), and depression.

The hypersensitivity of the device, enabled through unique bionanotechnology innovations specifically developed in the Trau lab, makes it an ideal platform technology that could be tweaked to monitor other neurological disorders associated with inflammatory processes.

Researchers open ‘window to the brain’ with powerful cancer tech

Technology created at The University of Queensland could improve the odds of surviving brain cancer and change how we treat a range of neurological conditions.

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