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This ultra-sensitive imaging system can spot cancer earlier
Scientists have developed a compact Raman imaging system that can reliably tell cancerous tissue apart from normal tissue. The approach could support earlier cancer detection and help move advanced molecular imaging tools beyond research laboratories and into more practical clinical settings.
The imaging system is designed to detect extremely weak signals from surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) nanoparticles that are engineered to attach to tumor markers. Once these nanoparticles are applied to a sample or to the area being examined, the system reads their Raman signal and automatically highlights regions that are more likely to contain tumor tissue.
“Traditional methods for cancer-related diagnosis are time-consuming and labor-intensive because they require staining tissue samples and having a pathologist look for any abnormalities,” said research team leader Zhen Qiu from the Institute for Quantitative Health Science and Engineering (IQ), Michigan State University. “While our system would not immediately replace pathology, it could serve as a rapid screening tool to accelerate diagnosis.”
Published results show major gains in sensitivity
In Optica, Optica Publishing Group’s journal for high-impact research, Qiu and colleagues report that their system can distinguish cancerous cells from healthy ones while detecting Raman signals that are about four times weaker than those measured by a comparable commercial system. This improved sensitivity comes from combining a swept-source laser — which changes wavelength during analysis — with an ultra-sensitive detector called a superconducting nanowire single-photon detector (SNSPD).
“This technology could eventually enable portable or intraoperative devices that enable clinicians to detect cancers at earlier stages, improve the accuracy of biopsy sampling and monitor disease progression through less invasive testing,” said Qiu. “Ultimately, such advances could enhance patient outcomes and reduce diagnostic delays, accelerating the path from detection to treatment.”
Pushing detection limits with superconducting detectors
Qiu’s lab studies how SNSPDs can be used to enhance a range of imaging technologies. SNSPDs rely on a superconducting wire that can detect individual particles of light, allowing the system to capture extremely weak optical signals at high speed while keeping background noise very low.
For this project, the researchers aimed to build a platform that could measure Raman signals far fainter than those detected by existing Raman systems. Raman imaging works by mapping a sample’s chemical composition through the unique light-scattering fingerprints of its molecules. These signals can be strengthened by using SERS nanoparticles.
“Combining this advanced detector with a swept-source Raman architecture that replaces a bulky camera and collects light more efficiently resulted in a system with a detection limit well beyond that of comparable commercial systems,” said Qiu. “Also, the fiber coupling configuration and compact design facilitate system miniaturization and future clinical translation.”
Strong tumor contrast across multiple sample types
To test the system, the team used SERS nanoparticles coated with hyaluronan acid, which enables the particles to bind to CD44, a surface protein found on many tumor cells. Initial experiments with simple nanoparticle solutions showed that the system could reach femtomolar sensitivity. The researchers then applied the imaging platform to cultured breast cancer cells, mouse tumors, and healthy tissue samples.
“The SERS signals were strongly concentrated in tumor samples, with only minimal background detected in healthy tissue,” said Qiu. “This demonstrates both the system’s exceptional sensitivity and its ability to provide reliable tumor-versus-healthy contrast. Moreover, by adjusting or substituting the targeting molecule, this method could be adapted for other cancer types.”
Next steps toward clinical use
According to the researchers, additional work is needed before the system can be used in clinical settings. Future improvements will focus on increasing readout speed and expanding validation studies. The team is exploring faster laser sources, including VCSELs, and testing whether narrowing the sweep range can further improve performance. They also plan multiplexing experiments that use different nanoparticles to target multiple biomarkers at the same time.
The researchers acknowledge industry collaborator Quantum Opus, which provided the SNSPD devices used in this work.
TikTok removes AI weight loss ads from fake Boots account
The adverts for prescription-only drugs showed healthcare professionals impersonating the British retailer.
Toddler finally home from hospital for Christmas
Bertie Melly was in hospital for 18 months after his premature birth in May 2024.
US regulator approves pill form of Wegovy weight-loss drug
Wegovy becomes first pill of its kind to be approved, shifting weight-loss drugs beyond injections.
Meaning Behind The Song Driving Home For Christmas Is So Heartwarming
Chris Rea died today, leaving behind a legacy of 25 solo albums and several number one hits but most especially, his 1988 Christmas classic Driving Home for Christmas.
The song is regularly on Christmas playlists and is often the soundtrack of people travelling to be closer to their loved ones during the festive season. However, the story behind the song is a little more nuanced than just a festive ditty.
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Speaking to The Guardian in 2016, the singer said: “It was 1978, coming up to Christmas. It was all over for me: I was just about out of my record contract, and my manager had just told me he was leaving me.
“I just needed to get home to Middlesbrough from London, but the record company wouldn’t pay for a rail ticket, and I was banned from driving.”
He did have to take a long drive…
He went on to say: “My wife got in our old Austin Mini, drove all the way down from Middlesbrough to Abbey Road studios to pick me up, and we set off back straight away. Then it started snowing. We had £220 and I was fiddling with it all the way home.”
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A far cry from the wholesome road trip depicted in his song, their drive home was actually quite frustrating. Chris and his wife kept getting stuck in traffic, gazing over at other miserable drivers and struggling to get home.
“Jokingly, I started singing: ‘we’re driving home for Christmas…’ then, when street lights shone inside the car, I started writing down lyrics.”
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Their arrival home was life-changing
“We eventually got home at 3am. It was so cold inside the house that the snow tumbled on to the doormat and didn’t melt.
“There was one letter – from PRS America. My song Fool (If You Think It’s Over) had been a hit in the US, so there was a cheque for £15,000. We went from being down to our last £220 to being able to buy a house.”
A Christmas miracle, if you will.
The song was shelved for almost a decade
After encouragement from his bandmate Max, Chris revisited his old festive song: “I’d never intended to write a Christmas hit – I was a serious musician! So initially, the song came out on a B-side.
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“Then a DJ flipped it over and started playing it, so Max suggested we re-record it and add some strings. Max played the distinctive jazzy intro, we did a classic 1950s Christmas carol-type arrangement, and loved it. At first, it was another radio hit – but then it started re-entering the Top 40 every year.”
Once he got past his ego, Chris indulged in the song with the rest of us.
“I used to be terrified the song would ruin any credibility I had left, but now we have a laugh with it.
“If I’m ever stuck on the M25 – the Road to Hell – I’ll wind the window down and start singing, “I’m driving home for Christmas” at people in cars alongside. They love it. It’s like giving them a present.”
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Barry Manilow To Undergo Surgery After Lung Cancer Diagnosis
Barry Manilow has shared that he has been diagnosed with a form of lung cancer.
In a message to fans shared on Monday afternoon, the Can’t Smile Without You crooner explained that he’d recently been through “six weeks of bronchitis followed by a relapse of another five weeks”.
As a result of this, his doctor encouraged him to undergo an MRI exam “just to make sure that everything was OK”.
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He explained: “The MRI discovered a cancerous spot on my left lung that needs to be removed,” he explained. “It’s pure luck (and a great doctor) that it was found so early. That’s the good news.”
“The bad news,” he continued, is that he has to undergo surgery to have this cancerous spot removed, although he noted that doctors “do not believe” that the cancer has spread, and he’s to undergo tests to confirm this.
“So, that’s it,” the 82-year-old noted. “No chemo. No radiation. Just chicken soup and I Love Lucy reruns.”
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Barry then apologised to fans who had been due to see him perform live in January, as these shows have now been rescheduled, but said he hopes to back back performing at what he described at his “home away from home” in Las Vegas by Valentine’s Day weekend.
“Something tells me that February weekend is going to be one big party!” he enthused.
See Barry Manilow’s full statement for yourself here.
The Grammy winner recently completed a run of Christmas concerts, which he was in the middle of when he was informed of his cancer diagnosis.
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Next year, he’s scheduled to hit the road for a six-date arena tour of Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Cardiff Birmingham and London, culminating in a show at the O2 Arena, for what he had previously billed as his “Last Last Concerts” in the UK.
This cancer-fighting molecule took 50 years to build
MIT chemists have produced verticillin A in the lab for the first time. This fungal molecule was identified more than 50 years ago and has drawn attention for its potential as an anticancer agent.
Verticillin A is notoriously hard to build because of its intricate chemical architecture. Even compared with closely related compounds, it proved far more challenging to synthesize, despite differing by only a couple of atoms.
“We have a much better appreciation for how those subtle structural changes can significantly increase the synthetic challenge,” says Mohammad Movassaghi, an MIT professor of chemistry. “Now we have the technology where we can not only access them for the first time, more than 50 years after they were isolated, but also we can make many designed variants, which can enable further detailed studies.”
In lab tests using human cancer cells, one verticillin A derivative stood out against a pediatric brain cancer known as diffuse midline glioma. The researchers emphasize that additional testing is needed to assess whether it could eventually be useful in the clinic.
Movassaghi and Jun Qi, an associate professor of medicine at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center and Harvard Medical School, are the senior authors of the study, published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. Walker Knauss PhD ’24 is the paper’s lead author. Xiuqi Wang, a medicinal chemist and chemical biologist at Dana-Farber, and Mariella Filbin, research director in the Pediatric Neurology-Oncology Program at Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, are also authors.
Why This Fungal Molecule Was So Hard to Make
Researchers first reported isolating verticillin A from fungi in 1970. Fungi use the compound to help defend themselves from pathogens. Verticillin A and similar fungal molecules have been explored for possible anticancer and antimicrobial activity, but their complexity has made them difficult to synthesize.
In 2009, Movassaghi’s lab reported the synthesis of (+)-11,11′-dideoxyverticillin A, a compound closely related to verticillin A. That molecule contains 10 rings and eight stereogenic centers, meaning carbon atoms that each connect to four different chemical groups. Those groups must be positioned with the correct orientation, or stereochemistry, relative to the rest of the molecule.
Even after that earlier success, verticillin A itself remained out of reach. The key difference between verticillin A and (+)-11,11′-dideoxyverticillin A is two oxygen atoms, but those additions made a major difference in how the molecule behaves during synthesis.
“Those two oxygens greatly limit the window of opportunity that you have in terms of doing chemical transformations,” Movassaghi says. “It makes the compound so much more fragile, so much more sensitive, so that even though we had had years of methodological advances, the compound continued to pose a challenge for us.”
Rethinking the Chemistry Step by Step
Both versions of the verticillin molecule are built from two identical halves that must be connected into a structure called a dimer. In the earlier synthesis of (+)-11,11′-dideoxyverticillin A, the team carried out the dimerization near the end of the process and then formed four crucial carbon-sulfur bonds.
When they tried to apply that same sequencing to verticillin A, it did not work. Adding the carbon-sulfur bonds late in the process failed to deliver the correct stereochemistry, forcing the team to redesign the entire order of steps.
“What we learned was the timing of the events is absolutely critical. We had to significantly change the order of the bond-forming events,” Movassaghi says.
The new synthesis starts from an amino acid derivative called beta-hydroxytryptophan. From there, the researchers build the structure in stages, adding chemical functional groups, including alcohols, ketones, and amides, while carefully controlling stereochemistry at each step.
To guide that control, the team introduced a group containing two carbon-sulfur bonds and a disulfide bond early in the process. Because disulfides are sensitive, they had to be “masked” by converting them into a protected pair of sulfides so the structure would not break down during later reactions. After dimerization, the disulfide-containing groups were restored.
“This particular dimerization really stands out in terms of the complexity of the substrates that we’re bringing together, which have such a dense array of functional groups and stereochemistry,” Movassaghi says.
In total, the route takes 16 steps from the beta-hydroxytryptophan starting material to reach verticillin A.
Early Tests Against Diffuse Midline Glioma
With verticillin A finally accessible, the researchers could also adjust the approach to create derivates. A Dana-Farber team tested these molecules against several types of diffuse midline glioma (DMG), a rare brain tumor with limited treatment options.
The strongest effects appeared in DMG cell lines that produce high levels of a protein called EZHIP. EZHIP influences DNA methylation and has previously been flagged as a potential drug target for DMG.
“Identifying the potential targets of these compounds will play a critical role in further understanding their mechanism of action, and more importantly, will help optimize the compounds from the Movassaghi lab to be more target specific for novel therapy development,” Qi says.
The verticillin derivatives seem to affect EZHIP in a way that increases DNA methylation, which pushes the cancer cells into programmed cell death. The most effective molecules in these experiments were N-sulfonylated (+)-11,11′-dideoxyverticillin A and N-sulfonylated verticillin A. N-sulfonylation — the addition of a functional group containing sulfur and oxygen — improves molecular stability.
“The natural product itself is not the most potent, but it’s the natural product synthesis that brought us to a point where we can make these derivatives and study them,” Movassaghi says.
Next, the Dana-Farber researchers plan to further confirm how the verticillin derivatives work, and they hope to test the compounds in animal models of pediatric brain cancers.
“Natural compounds have been valuable resources for drug discovery, and we will fully evaluate the therapeutic potential of these molecules by integrating our expertise in chemistry, chemical biology, cancer biology, and patient care. We have also profiled our lead molecules in more than 800 cancer cell lines, and will be able to understand their functions more broadly in other cancers,” Qi says.
The research was funded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, the Ependymoma Research Foundation, and the Curing Kids Cancer Foundation.
Chris Rea, Driving Home For Christmas Singer, Dies Aged 74
British singer Chris Rea has died at the age of 74.
Announcing the news on Monday afternoon, a spokesperson confirmed that the musician had died earlier that day following what was described as a “short illness”.
“It is with immense sadness that we announce the death of our beloved Chris,” the statement said.
“He passed away peacefully in hospital earlier today following a short illness, surrounded by his family.”
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The Middlesborough-born singer was perhaps best known for his festive hit Driving Home For Christmas, first released as a single in 1988, which has gone on to become a festive classic, resurfacing in the charts in the run-up to Christmas each year due to streaming.
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As well as a love of music, Chris was a car fanatic, with BBC News pointing out that this inspired many of his songs (not least his signature festive hit).
Over the course of his career, Chris had several hits including 1978’s Fool (If You Think It’s Over), 1987’s Let’s Dance and 1988’s On The Beach, as well as the top 10 The Road To Hell.
He also released 25 studio albums, most recently in 2019, and enjoyed back-to-back number ones in 1989 and 1991 with The Road To Hell and Auberge.
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In his lifetime, Chris was nominated three times for the Best British Male prize at the Brit Awards.
In 1994, when he was still in his early 30s, Chris was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, for which he underwent an operation to remove his pancreas, gallbladder and part of his liver. He also suffered a stroke in 2016.
Chris had been married to his wife Joan Lesley since 1968, with the pair sharing two daughters, Josephine and Julia.
This article has been updated to correct a typing error.
