The goal of the project is to develop a rapid in vitro screening assay for detection of cancer biomarkers in blood. The aim is testing and optimization of nanoparticle sensors, based on cyanine dyes that are chemically linked to Fe/Fe3O4 nanoparticles via protease-selective consensus (cleavage) sequences. The focus is on the quantitative determination of active cancer-specific proteases in blood via simple fluorescence measurements. The matrix metalloproteinases, urokinase-type plasminogen activator, and cathepsins, are up-regulated in the vast majority of progressing cancers and can, therefore, serve as markers for cell survival/tumor progression, angiogenesis, and tissue remodeling/invasion