Overview
- Researchers from UHNM, Keele and Loughborough report in Applied Spectroscopy that FT‑IR microspectroscopy detected a single circulating tumour cell in a patient sample.
- The method reads a cell’s infrared chemical fingerprint via computer analysis, distinguishing cancer cells from blood cells without complex labelling.
- A blood sample from a 77‑year‑old lung cancer patient yielded one confirmed tumour cell among thousands of normal cells, with independent specialist verification.
- Using standard glass slides and widely available FT‑IR equipment, the approach is presented as simpler and potentially more affordable than many current CTC tests.
- The team plans larger cohort studies and workflow automation with an eye to NHS pathway integration, and is seeking clinical, industry and data‑science collaborators.