Heating a patient’s blood could provide a simple new test for cervical cancer.
The plasma thermogram technique obtains a “heatprint” signature based on the melting temperature of different proteins.
Studies show it could potentially offer a non-invasive method of showing whether a woman has cervical cancer, and how far a confirmed disease has progressed.
“We have been able to demonstrate a more convenient, less intrusive test for detecting and staging cervical cancer,” said scientist Nichola Garbett, from the University of Louisville in Kentucky, US.
The key is not the actual melting temperature of the thermogram, but the shape of the heat profile
Further clinical studies could result in plasma thermograms complimenting traditional smear tests for cervical cancer, and helping doctors monitor treatment effectiveness, her team believes.
The experimental technology has already been used to identify lung, skin, ovarian, and womb cancers as well as other diseases including lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, Lyme disease and motor neurone disease.
“The key is not the actual melting temperature of the thermogram, but the shape of the heat profile,” said Garbett.
Different individuals have distinct plasma thermogram profiles linked to demographics as well as disease, raising the prospect of making the technique a part of personalised medicine.
The research is published in the online journal Public Library of Science ONE.