The magic glass helps to see the tumor

(High-tech glasses help surgeons see cancer cells, they glow green when viewed through special eyeglasses. This particular type of glasses has not yet been named, but was used during a first surgery on February 10, 2014 at Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes - Jewish Hospital and the Great Medical School. Study Washington, USA.

Cancer cells are obviously hard to see, even under high energy amplification.These high-tech glasses are designed to help surgeons, distinguish cancer cells from healthy cells, making sure that no scattered tumor cells are missed after the operation. surgery.

'We are in the early stages of this technique, and the developments and tests will be much more implemented, but we have certainly been encouraged by the potential benefits of this technology. For patients' , breast surgeon Julie Margenthaler, MD and assistant professor of surgery at the University of Washington, who performed the surgery on February 10, said. 'Imagine what these high-tech glasses can do, which is to eliminate the need for follow-up surgeries and related pain, inconveniences and anxiety'.

The current standard requires that surgeons remove tumors and some surrounding tissue may or may not contain cancer cells. Samples were sent to a pathology laboratory and observed under a microscope. If cancer cells are found in the surrounding tissue, a second surgery is often proposed to remove additional tissues that have also been tested for the presence of cancer.

These high-tech glasses can reduce the need to perform additional surgeries and subsequent pressures on patients, as well as time and cost.

Margenthaler said that about 20 to 25% of breast cancer patients who have had their tumors removed still need to have a second surgery because, current technologies do not yet show the full extent of the cancer in the future. First surgery.

"We hope that this new technology will reduce or more amazingly eliminate the necessity of the second surgery," she said.

This technology was developed by a team of researchers led by Dr. Samuel Achilefu, a professor of X-ray and biomedical engineering at the University of Washington, combined with custom video technology, a display screen. The vision is attached to the head and a target molecular agent attaches to the cancer cells, causing these cells to glow when observed through these glasses.

In a study published in the Journal of Biomedical Optics, the researchers note that small tumors measuring only about 1mm (by the thickness of about 10 sheets of paper) can be detected by This type of glass.

Ryan Fields, MD, an assistant professor of surgery at the University of Washington and the Siteman surgery room, intends to use this type of glass during an operation expected to be carried out later this month to remove the tumor. counted from a patient. He said he welcomed the new technique, a theoretical technique that could be used to observe any type of cancer.

"One of the limitations of surgery is that it is not always possible to distinguish between the normal tissue and the cancer cells ," Fields said. 'With high-tech glasses developed by Dr. Achilefu, we can identify the diseased tissue that needs to be removed in a better way.'

In experimental studies conducted on laboratory mice, researchers used indocyanine green, a commonly used contrast agent and administered by the Food and Drug Administration (Food and Drug Administration). FDA) allowed. When this agent is injected into the tumor, cancer cells glow when viewed with a glass and a special light.

Achilefu, also co-author of the Oncologic imaging program at the Siteman Cancer Center and professor of biochemistry and molecular biophysics, is calling on FDA to support another molecular agent to develop use with. This type of glass. This agent specifically targets and stays longer in cancer cells.

"This technology has great potential for patients and healthcare professionals," Achilefu said. "Our goal is to ensure that no cancer cells are left in the patient's body."

Dr. Achilefu worked with the University of Washington Technology Management Office and patented this technique.

The study was funded by the National Cancer Institute (R01CA171651) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).