BAN-CANCER · Smart Bandage for Cancer Margin Theranostics

Successful surgical treatment of breast cancer crucially depends on accurate detection of the boundaries between malignant and healthy cells (tumor margins) and is a major determinant of patient survival. The current standard for assessment of margins is the evaluation by the surgeon in the operating room followed by histological sampling.The project “smart BANdage for CANCER margin theranostics” (BAN-CANCER) combines diagnosis of malignancy at the single cell level over a large area with stimuli-responsive delivery of therapy in a theranostic device for intraoperative detection and eradication of malignant cells at breast tumor margins.BAN-CANCER is a multidisciplinary project that combines the potential of nanoscale materials with a novel theranostic approach. It constitutes a leap forward with respect to current and proposed diagnostics, allowing to diagnose and treat breast carcinoma margin involvement for the first time (i) intraoperatively (ii) at the single cell level (iii) over the entire surgical incision