MIRRORS could soon reflect the health of cancer patients. Instead of running regular blood tests to see if a tumour is growing back, a doctor will use a simple instrument to bounce a low-power laser beam off a silicon “mirror” implanted under the patient’s skin. Computer analysis of the reflected beam will tell you if cancer has returned.
Some cancers, like prostate and colorectal, release specific chemical markers into the bloodstream as they develop. Doctors can spot the disease by looking for these markers. “Just one cell of a tumour will shed these markers,” says Stephen Mather, head of nuclear…
