GLUT5 fluorescent probe fingerprints cancer cells

(Michigan Technological University) Getting the results of a cancer biopsy can take up to two weeks. What if it could happen in 10 minutes? In two new papers, a team of chemists and engineers from Michigan Technological University lay the groundwork for cancer detection and diagnostics based on a fluorescent GLUT5 probe. Documented in the new research, a cancer's type and malignancy changes the GLUT5 activity in a cell, creating a detectable 'fingerprint' of cancer.