A cancer detection development UCLA uses sight and touch refined down to the cellular level, which could mean a new era in cancer treatment.

UCLA Dr. Jianyu Rao is an expert at finding cancerous cells amid healthy ones, but some are hard to distinguish.

"By looking at the normal under just a regular microscope, you can't tell a lot of times. It's very hard to tell," Rao said.

Cancerous cells are different, because their structure, or their cytoskeleton has collapsed.

"That makes the cells very flexible, very soft. You know the tumor cells are very unique in that they are very easy to get through the spaces," Rao said.

Nanoscientists at UCLA use an atomic force microscope to measure softness. The probe is the size of 30 atoms.

"If I was a sphere, it would be like using a finger to probe mass softness," said James Gimzewski, Ph.D.

Gimzewski and his team use an atomic force microscope to make these delicate readings. A tiny cantilever is placed over the cells.

"Then we just lower it down and push on the cell gently. That is what we do, and we pick up how the diving board bends and that's the measure of softness," Gimzewski said.

Healthy cells are stiffer and can withstand more pressure, while cancerous cells give easily.

"The more the diving board bends, the stiffer the surface. The less it bends, the softer the surface," Gimzewski said.

"Punch it a little bit and retract it, and by that, you feel how soft the tumor cell is," Rao said.

This research may also lead to treatments to repair the cells and treat cancers

More Resources:

• American Cancer Society
• Find local chapter