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Atomic force microscopy

A tip for diagnosing cancer

Nature Nanotechnology volume 7, pages 691–692 (2012)Cite this article

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Stiffness measurements of tumour biopsies and single cells show unique fingerprints that identify the different stages of cancer.

The development of a variety of diseases can be linked to changes in the mechanical properties of living cells. This includes diseases where mechanical changes are clearly observable in a patient such as with muscular dystrophies1, and diseases where changes can only be observed using experimental techniques such as with cancers2. Over the past few years, atomic force microscopy (AFM) has been used to measure the mechanical properties of cells, and the technique has revealed that cancerous cells are softer than normal cells2. Furthermore, the method can also differentiate cancerous cells from non-malignant and less-differentiated cancer cells2. Yet, few clinicians consider this a viable method for detecting cancerous changes because tumours are structurally complex and have heterogeneous properties. Moreover, many researchers question the relevance of elasticity measurements of single cells because these are done in the absence of a natural environment.

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Figure 1: Potential use of AFM in breast cancer diagnosis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Małgorzata Lekka is in the Department of Applied Spectroscopy at the Institute of Nuclear Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Radzikowskiego 152, 31-342 Kraków, Poland,

    Małgorzata Lekka

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  1. Małgorzata Lekka
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Correspondence to Małgorzata Lekka.

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Lekka, M. A tip for diagnosing cancer. Nature Nanotech 7, 691–692 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2012.196

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2012.196

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