A research team involving Jun Seok Park, a professor of Medicine at Kyungpook National University, has developed an “exosome analysis method in the blood that can diagnose colon cancer using electrochemical-based sensors.”
Professor Jun Seok Park conducted joint research with Jong Min Park, a Chemistry major at Kangwon National University, and Hak Ho Lee, a Medical professor at Harvard University in the U.S., and analyzed and combined colon cancer-specific protein markers (EpCAM, EGFR, CD24, GPA33) and diagnosed colon cancer with 96% accuracy.
Furthermore, the team used immunomagnetic electrochemical analysis to analyze the exosomal protein markers in a small amount of blood in just one hour. This method is a next-generation diagnostic technology that can overcome the long analysis time that was presented as a weakness of existing exosomal analysis technology.
Until now, a colon cancer diagnosis has been mainly done through colonoscopy, but due to the hassle of the test method, the appropriate timing of diagnosis has often been missed. However, blood analysis alone is expected to lead to early detection of colon cancer.
In addition, the research team conducted an exosome analysis using plasma samples from a total of 142 patients at Kyungpook National University’s Colon Cancer Center and found that they could predict the possibility of cancer recurrence five years later as well.
Professor Park said, “We expect that using this technology, we will be able to detect colorectal cancer early through blood tests conducted every year at health checkups.”