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You have cancer.

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Sadly, about 40 percent of us will hear[br]those three words within our lifetime,

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and half will not survive.

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This means that two of five[br]of your closest friends and relatives

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will be diagnosed[br]with some form of cancer,

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and one will die.

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Beyond the physical harships,

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roughly one-third of cancer[br]survivors here in the US

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will go into debt from treatment.

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And they're at least two-and-a-half times[br]more likely to declare bankruptcy

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than those without cancer.

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This disease is pervasive.

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It's emotionally drainging,

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and for many,

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financially destructive.

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But a cancer diagnosis doesn't[br]have to be a death sentence.

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Finding cancer early,

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closer its genesis,

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is one of the critical factors[br]to improving treatment options,

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reducing its emotional impact

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and minimizing financial burdens.

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Most importantly,

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finding cancer early --

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which is one of the primary[br]aims of my research --

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greatly enhances your odds of survival.

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If we just look at the case[br]of breast cancer for example,

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we find that those who are diagnosed[br]and treated as Stage One

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have a five-year survival rate[br]of nearly 100 percent.

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Odds that decrease to just 22 percent[br]if treated at Stage Four.

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And similar trends are found[br]for cholorectal and ovarian cancer.

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Now, we're all aware that an early[br]diagnosis that is accurate

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is critical for survival.

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The problem is that many cancer[br]diagnostic tools are invasive,

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costly,

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often inaccurate,

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and they can take an agonizing amount[br]of time to get the results back.

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Still worse,

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when it comes to some forms of cancer,

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such as ovarian, liver[br]or pancreatic cancer,

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good screening methods simply don't exist,

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meaning often people wait until[br]physical symptoms surface,

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which are themselves already indicators[br]of late stage progression.

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Like a tornado strike in an area[br]without an early warning system,

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there is no alarm to warn

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for the danger is already[br]at your doorstep ...

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when your odds of survival[br]are greatly reduced.

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Having the convenience and accessibility[br]of regular screening options

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that are affordable, noninvasive[br]and could provide results much sooner,

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would provide us with a formidable[br]weapon in the fight against cancer.

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An early warning would allow us[br]to get out ahead of the disease

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instead of merely following[br]in its relentless wake.

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And this is exactly what I've been doing.

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For the past three years,

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I've been developing technologies

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that could ultimately aid clinicians

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with rapid, early-stage[br]cancer diagnostics.

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And I've been fueled by a deep[br]scientific curiosity,

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and a passion to change these statistics.

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Last year however,

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this fight became much more personal

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when my wife was diagnosed[br]with breast cancer.

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It was an experience that added a strong[br]and unexpected emotional dimension

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to these efforts.

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I know firsthand how life-altering[br]treatment can be,

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and I'm keenly aware[br]of the emotional havoc

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that cancer and wreak on a family,

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which in our case included[br]our two young daughters.

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Because we found it early[br]during a routine mamogram,

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we were able to focus primarly[br]on treatment options

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for the localized tumor,

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reaffirming to me how important[br]an early diagnosis is.

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Unlike other forms of cancer,

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mamograms do offer an early stage[br]screening option for breast cancer.

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Still, not everyone has this done,

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or they may develop cancer before[br]the middle age recommendation

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for having a mamogram.

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So, there's still a lot[br]of room for improvement,

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even for cancers that do[br]have screening options.

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And of course,

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considerable benefits[br]for those that don't.

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A key challenge then[br]for cancer researchers

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is to develop methods

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that make regular screening for many[br]types of cancers much more accessible.

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Imagine a scenario where during[br]your regular checkup,

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your doctor can take a simple,[br]noninvasive urine sample,

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or other liquid biopsy,

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and present you with the results[br]before you even leave the doctor's office.

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Such a technology could dramatically[br]reduce the number of people

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who slipped through the net[br]of an early stage cancer diagnosis.

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My research team[br]of engineers and biochemists

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is working on exactly this challenge.

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We're working on ways to frequently[br]activate an early stage cancer alarm

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by enable regular screenings that would[br]start when a person is healthy

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so that action could be taken to stop[br]cancer the moment it emerges,

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and before it can progress[br]beyond its infancy.

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The silver bullet in this case[br]are tiny [vesacilles],

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little escape pods regularly shed[br]by cells called [exosomes].

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Exosomes are important biomarkers[br]that provide an early warning system

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for the development of cancer.

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And because they're abundantly present[br]in just about every bodily fluid,

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including blood, urine and saliva,

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they're extremely attractive[br]for noninvasive, liquid biopsies.

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There's just one problem.

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And automated system for rapidly sorting[br]these important biomarkers

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is not currently available.

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We've created a technology[br]that we call "Nano DOD"

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that is capable of precisely this.

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Automated exome isolation

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to aid rapid cancer diagnostics.

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Exosomes are the newest early[br]warning weapon if you will

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to emerge on the liquid biopsy front.

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And they're really, really small.

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They measure just 30 to 150[br]nanometers in diameter.

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This is so tiny

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that you could fit about a million[br]of them into a single red blood cell.

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That's roughly the difference[br]between a golf ball

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and a fine grain piece of sand.

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Once thought to be little bins[br]for unwanted cellular waste,

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it has been found that cells[br]actually communicate

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by producing and absorbing these exosomes

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which contain surface receptors,

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proteins

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and other genetic material collected[br]from their cell of origin.

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When absorbed by a neighboring cell,

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exosomes release their contents[br]into the receiving cell,

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and can set in motion fundamental[br]changes in gene expression.