Nanosphere, Inc. this week announced that a research team at Northwestern University's International Institute for Nanotechnology has found that a nanoparticle-based assay is capable of detecting previously undetectable levels of prostate cancer.

"In an 18-patient study, the new method detected a protein specific to prostate cancer in 86 percent of blood samples compared with 25 percent for conventional tests, according to research published online today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences," writes Bloomberg's Nicole Ostrow. "The company attaches antibodies to the gold, producing what Nanosphere calls probes for 'ultrasensitive' detection of proteins that may otherwise go undiscovered."

"The ultra-sensitive PSA test uses gold particles that are just 30 nanometers in diameter and have antibodies to PSA as well as strands of DNA, the basic genetic molecule, attached to them," writes US News' Ed Edelson. "The combination allows detection of PSA at levels 300 times lower than is now possible."

More here from WebMD ... more here from ScienceDaily ... and the press release is here.