Skin implant creates an artificial ‘mole’ if people are at a high risk of breast or prostate cancer

A skin implant creates an artificial ‘mole’ if people are at a high risk of breast or prostate cancer.

The implant is triggered by high calcium to produce melanin, the pigment which causes a skin tan, moles and freckles. 

Scientists claim the large ‘freckle’ acts as an early warning sign that could save thousands of lives.

Excessive calcium levels in the blood occur in the very early stages of certain cancers.

The artificial mole was created by Swiss scientists to detect the four most common cancers – prostate, breast, lung and bowel cancer. 

It is created by genetically engineered cells, implanted back into the body to pick up high calcium levels and release a pigment which forms the freckle on the skin.

Trialled successfully in pigs and mice, it is hoped to be tested on people in five years and widely available in a decade.

Picking up cancer quickly is vital, with more than 90 per cent of women diagnosed with breast cancer at the earliest stage surviving for the next five years, compared to around one in seven of those diagnosed at the most advanced stage.

Professor Martin Fussenegger, who led a study of the artificial mole from the department of Biosystems science and engineering at ETH Zurich in Basel, said: ‘Early detection increases the chance of survival significantly.

‘Nowadays, people generally go to the doctor only when the tumour begins to cause problems. Unfortunately, by that point it is often too late.’

More than 47,000 men a year are diagnosed with prostate cancer in the UK, and more than 55,000 women are told they have breast cancer.

More than half of new cases of cancer in Britain are prostate, breast, lung and bowel cancers, which all cause calcium to leak out into someone’s bloodstream from their bones. 

This often happens before someone finds a lump or a tumour is found by doctors, making it the perfect early warning.

The Swiss scientists genetically engineered human cells to pick up persistently high calcium in the blood as a tumour develops and inserted them into an implant, placed under the skin. 

In a 38-day study with mice, the implant formed an artificial mole in the animals before they developed the symptoms of cancer. The results are published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

Professor Fussenegger said: ‘Someone carrying this implant should see a doctor after the mole appears but does not need to panic. The mole does not mean that the person is likely to die soon.

‘It simply means that clarification and if necessary treatment are needed.’

People can self-monitor for artificial moles in future, and the scientists say the implant could also be used to create a mole only visible under red light to save them the worry and be checked by a doctor at regular appointments instead. However it only lasts for a year before needing to be replaced.

Dr Catherine Pickworth from Cancer Research UK, said: ‘The idea that ‘wearable technology’ could one day act as a warning sign for cancer is exciting, but it’s early days for this research.

‘This study in mice shows that a biomedical tattoo could detect changes in the amount of calcium in the blood, but we need to see if this holds true in people. High levels of calcium can be an indicator of cancer but also many other conditions, so this approach may one day help doctors identify when patients could benefit from further tests.

‘Spotting cancer early is one of the most powerful ways of improving survival, so finding the best way to monitor people at high risk, or those in remission, is an important challenge.’