Jack Andraka
| Jack Andraka | |
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Andraka in 2013
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| Born | Jack Thomas Andraka January 8, 1997 Crownsville, Maryland, U.S. |
| Residence | United States |
| Nationality | American |
| Fields | Cancer research, medical research, invention |
Jack Thomas Andraka (born January 8, 1997) is an American inventor, scientist, and cancer researcher. He is known for his award-winning work on a potential method for possibly detecting the early stages of pancreatic and other cancers, which he performed while he was a high school student. The validity of his research has since been questioned by other scientists. Since 2015, he has attended Stanford University as an undergraduate.
According to Andraka, he invented a new type of sensor, similar to diabetic test strips, for early-stage pancreatic cancer screening. This paper sensor measures the level of mesothelin (a suspected cancer biomarker) in a sample to test for the presence of cancer in a patient. Andraka coated strips of filter paper with a mixture of single-walled carbon nanotubes, which made the paper conductive, and antibodies against human mesothelin. Samples containing mesothelin were applied to these paper test strips, and the binding of mesothelin to the antibody was quantified by measuring changes in the electrical properties of the strip.
Andraka said that tests on human blood serum obtained from both healthy people and patients with chronic pancreatitis, pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasia (a precursor to pancreatic carcinoma), or pancreatic cancer showed a dose-dependent response. According to him, his method is 168 times faster, 1⁄26667 times as expensive, and 400 times more sensitive than ELISA, 25% to 50% more accurate than the CA19-9 test, and over 90 percent accurate in detecting the presence of mesothelin.
He has applied for a patent for his method of sensing pancreatic cancer and is communicating with companies about developing an over-the-counter test. According to Susan Desmond-Hellmann, oncologist and former chancellor of UCSF, any practical usefulness of the test remains to be seen. Several years of trials would be needed to demonstrate that the test can catch cases early and reliably enough.
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