Bioinspired Tumor Calcification Enables Early Detection And Elimination Of Lung Cancer

Precise diagnosis of cancer in an early stage and treatments with a reliable response, high selectivity, and negligible side effects is urgently needed. However, current cancer management involves low-resolution metrics and delayed visual confirmation of tumor foci in imaging findings, and the toxicity of chemo- and radiotherapy unavoidably damages normal tissue and disrupts the immune balance of cancer patients. Here, a polypeptide is synthesized that preferentially targets lung cancer cells rather than normal lung epithelial cells and induces calcium precipitation specifically on the plasma membrane of lung cancer cells without additional supplementary calcium. Polypeptide-induced cellular calcification can ideally facilitate medical imaging for identifying early-stage lung cancer and distinguish cancer from benign nodules. Physiological and spontaneous calcification of tumors is induced by polypeptides and sharply prolongs the survival of tumor-bearing mice without evidence of systemic side effects. This tumor cell-selective calcification process provides an attractive, safe, and unprecedented approach for accurately visualizing and treating cancer in patients with early-stage disease in the clinic. It has broad implications in developing simple physiological reactions for diagnosing and treating cancer and provides a new horizon for drug discovery.