Workingtogether to spot cancer

摘要

UK scientists have designed a method to detect prostate cancer using surface-enhanced resonance Raman scattering. Duncan Graham, from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, and his colleagues, combined the technique with a biological method called an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, or ELISA, to detect prostate specific antigen, whose elevated levels in serum indicate the cancer's presence.rnELISA is used to detect antigen levels in patients after prostate removal to ensure that all malignant tissue has been removed. Blood serum samples are fixed to a surface then a specific antibody is washed over the surface to bind to any antigen in the samples. Linked to the antibody is an enzyme dyed with a reagent that fluoresces when the antibodies bind to their antigens. This is normallyrndetected by fluorescence spectroscopy, but only one target at a time can be detected due to the large spectral overlap of dyes used forrndifferent targets.