In 2007, Dr. Shana Kelley, new to prostate cancer research, submitted a grant proposal to Prostate Cancer Canada requesting financial support for her project. “Prostate Cancer Canada was the first organization to sponsor my research. The $60,000 grant received from PCC enabled me to obtain the additional funds from other sources required to complete my experiments”, says Dr. Kelley. What was described as a new strategy for the detection of prostate cancer, Dr. Kelley’s application was one of over 60 applications received and reviewed by Prostate Cancer Canada’s Scientific and Medical Advisory Committee. 

 

Dr. Kelley’s proposal described a new strategy for the detection of prostate cancer based on an inexpensive approach, enabling routine testing in the doctor’s office. She and her colleagues were attempting to develop a quick and convenient new tool using microchips for detecting new markers of prostate cancer. By using a microchip that is programmed to detect DNA sequences produced by specific cancers or pathogens, patients will simply have to provide a sample (urine or blood) put it on the chip and allow the chip reader to analyze it. 

 

Dr. Kelley recently announced that the tool she and her team had been working on since 2007 had successfully detected prostate cancer markers in clinical biopsy samples. The results of her team’s research should give doctors the ability to determine the severity of tumors through a simple urine or blood sample and produce a quick diagnosis with no need for invasive and uncomfortable procedures, such as biopsies. This device is expected to be used in doctor’s offices within approximately five years.


View Dr. Kelley's CBC interview with Peter Mansbridge:
"Manbridge One on One"

View original press release from the University of Toronto here.