From: Israel MFA Online [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: May 29, 2011 03:24
To: [concealed] Weiss Meir
Subject: Sniffing out disease
MFA Newsletter
Sniffing out disease
A nano 'nose' developed by an Israeli professor can detect and classify
cancer, kidney disease and other serious ailments just by analyzing breath
samples.
Prof. Hossam Haick's 'aha' moment came when he heard that patients with
diseased kidneys typically have ammonia-scented breath.
Within a few years, it will be possible to breathe into a portable medical
device to find out if you have diseases such as cancer or kidney disease -
and to determine its exact type so that doctors can better target treatment.
This revolutionary non-invasive invention is the brainchild of a celebrated
Israeli-Arab chemical engineer at the Russell Berrie Nanotechnology
Institute of the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology.
Dubbed NA NOSE (for nano-artificial nose), Prof. Hossam Haick's device is in
the early stages of being readied for commercialization through the Alfred
Mann Institute of the Technion, a philanthropic fund to advance biomedical
ideas originating at the university. Lab and clinical researchers are
discovering wider applications for the product the more they test and
fine-tune it.
The nose knows
Haick's "aha" moment was a conversation with two specialists who said that
patients with diseased kidneys typically have ammonia-scented breath. For
the past six years, he and his team have been perfecting an inexpensive
sensor that sniffs out disease biomarkers passing from the bloodstream to
the lungs and out through the breath.
Focusing first on lung cancer, the research earned Haick a 1.73 million-euro
Marie Curie Excellence Award in 2006 and a 1.8 million-euro European
Research Council Award in 2010. Now he is leading a European consortium of
eight universities and companies to develop advanced screening nanosensors
for lung cancer with the help of a 5.4 million-euro grant.
"This is at the research level," stresses Haick, who admits he works on the
project "more than full time." It could take three or four years for NA-NOSE
to reach the market, as it must go through rigorous procedures to gain
approval from the US Food and Drug Administration or the equivalent agencies
in other countries.
In the meantime, the device keeps looking more promising, as Haick reported
to the American Society of Clinical Oncology last fall and in the British
Journal of Cancer in December last year. Beyond simply showing that someone
has a disease, NA-NOSE can pinpoint the particulars. "In the last two years,
we achieved good advances in discrimination between lung, prostate, breast
and colorectal cancer and we have shown an ability to distinguish between
head and neck cancers and lung cancers," says Haick.
If physicians know exactly what subtype of cancer is present, they can
target treatments accordingly, resulting in fewer side effects and greater
overall success. "In the case of breast cancer, we have shown that we can
distinguish not just between sick and healthy women, but we can
subcategorize between women with no tumors, malignant tumors and benign
tumors," says Haick. "In addition, we have shown a correlation between
genetic mutations of the cancer and volatile biomarkers that would appear in
the exhaled breath. This also relates to targeted therapy, because genetic
features distinguish among patients and help predict how they would respond
to treatment."
Detecting kidney disease at earliest stage
Lung cancer and kidney disease both affect tens of millions of Americans and
have typically poor outcomes due to late-stage detection. Haick's team has
significant clinical data demonstrating NA-NOSE's ability to discriminate
between different stages of kidney disease - and at a much earlier point
than conventional technology.
Particularly when dealing with acute kidney disease resulting from injury or
poisoning - where a patient can lose 50 to 60 percent of kidney function
within days - NA-NOSE could guide physicians in slowing the progression
before it's too late. "Our technology can detect kidney disease when the
patient has lost approximately 5-10% of function, as opposed to conventional
technology, which detects it when it is already at 50 or 60%," says Haick.
"Especially with acute kidney disease, a difference of two days is quite
significant for the treatment process."
Most studies have been done at the Technion in collaboration with Haifa's
Rambam Health Care Campus and the Technion's Rappaport Medical School. The
lung cancer study also has been carried out in collaboration with the
University of Colorado.
Raised in Nazareth, internationally renowned
Prof. Hossam Haick
A product of Israel's northern Arab-Christian community in Nazareth, Haick
was named one of 35 top scientists in the world in 2008 by the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology's Technology Review, and last year appeared on the
Calcalist list of "Ten Most Promising Young Israeli Scientists" and the
Jerusalem Post "Young Israelis of the Year" list.
The winner of more than 40 international prizes, Haick most recently
received the Knight of the Order of Academic Palms from the French
government, a respected civilian decoration established in 1808 by Napoleon
Bonaparte.
Educated in Israel, it was during post-doctorate studies at the California
Institute of Technology that Haick first worked with electronic noses. He
now lives in Haifa with his wife, a chemist and food engineer at the Israeli
Ministry of Health.
29 May 2011
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