Detection of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma by Ex Vivo Magnetic Levitation of Plasma Protein-Coated Nanoparticles

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Pancreatic Ductal Adeno Carcinoma (PDAC) is a highly lethal disease, for which mortality closely parallels incidence. The poor prognosis of PDAC is mainly due to cancer’s biological behavior and its advanced stage at the moment of the diagnosis. Despite strong efforts in the scientific community, reaching an effective early diagnosis is still a big challenge. Our research aims to develop highly sensitive and specific technologies for the early diagnosis of PDAC using magnetic levitation (MagLev) of nanoparticles coated by the personalized protein corona, i.e., the protein layer of plasma proteins that bind to nanomaterials exposed to patients’ bodily fluids. MagLev does not rely on critical experimental steps (e.g., isolating plasma proteins from nanoparticles) and thus overcomes limitations that propagate biases, hinder reproducibility, and typically impair clinical translation of medical technologies. ABSTRACT: Pancreatic Ductal Adeno Carcinoma (PDAC) is one of the most lethal malignancies worldwide, and the development of sensitive and specific technologies for its early diagnosis is vital to reduce morbidity and mortality rates. In this proof-of-concept study, we demonstrate the diagnostic ability of magnetic levitation (MagLev) to detect PDAC by using levitation of graphene oxide (GO) nanoparticles (NPs) decorated by a biomolecular corona of human plasma proteins collected from PDAC and non-oncological patients (NOP). Levitation profiles of corona-coated GO NPs injected in a MagLev device filled with a paramagnetic solution of dysprosium(III) nitrate hydrate in water enables to distinguish PDAC patients from NOP with 80% specificity, 100% sensitivity, and global classification accuracy of 90%. Our findings indicate that Maglev could be a robust and instrumental tool for the early detection of PDAC and other cancers.