Leukocyte ImmunoTest™: point-of-care test for monitoring chemotherapy-induced neutropenia

"Drug companies are continuing to develop new and improved drugs and medications in the fight against cancer, and more cancer patients are benefiting from these so-called ""chemotherapy"" drugs. However, a key challenge is the risk of unwanted drug side effects which are called adverse drug responses (ADRs). A common ADR that is also quite severe affects the white blood cells of the immune system, reducing the effectiveness of the body to ward off infection (a condition known as ""neutropenia""). Patients with severe neutropenia are more susceptible to bacterial infection and, without prompt medical attention, the condition may become life-threatening.

To address this unmet clinical need, Oxford MediStress (OMS) has recently developed the Leukocyte ImmunoTest(tm) (LIT(tm)) for rapidly assessing the function of neutrophils (a type of white blood cell and a key aspect of the immune system). This blood test is rapid (taking only ten minutes), portable, and uses a hand-held point-of-care (POC) electronic device; it uses a tiny pinprick of blood and shows how well your immune system is working. This shows the doctor how well your body is responding to you medication; it shows this quickly and at any point in time. Importantly, the device can eventually be developed for use at home (much like the well-known home diabetes test). Eventually, we will also have a smartphone-enabled app to communicate the results directly to the doctor (but that is not part of this project).

Importantly, in order to make it suitable for home-use, some aspects of the device need to be improved. In this project, Oxford MediStress will lead a small team to improve the device by developing a new reagent cartridge that has the necessary chemicals already pre-loaded so that it is easier and quicker to use.

As a side benefit, we will also learn whether and how our test can be used to monitor other disease conditions and how doctors in the NHS would likely use this technology to help both the patients (by saving lives) and the healthcare service (by reducing cost and making the provision of excellent healthcare more efficient)."