Injectable makes cancer cells glow
Duke University School of Medicine doctors are testing and injectable agent that makes cancer cells glow. The agent will help doctors detect and remove all cancer cells in the first attempt.
The agent, a blue liquid called LUM015 (loom – fifteen), was used in 15 patients undergoing surgery for soft-tissue sarcoma or breast cancer. The agent identified cancer cells without adverse side effects.
The imaging technology was developed through collaboration with scientists at Duke, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Lumicell Inc.
The “glow” is not visible by the naked eye and must be detected with a device with a sensitive camera developed by Lumicell. After a tumor is removed, doctors scan the cut with the device to check for glowing cancer cells.
“At the time of surgery, a pathologist can examine the tissue for cancer cells at the edge of the tumor using a microscope, but because of the size of cancer it’s impossible to review the entire surface during surgery,” said senior author David Kirsch, M.D., Ph.D., a professor of radiation oncology and pharmacology and cancer biology at Duke University School of Medicine. “The goal is to give surgeons a practical and quick technology that allows them to scan the tumor bed during surgery to look for any residual fluorescence.”
The findings were published on January 6 in Science Translational Medicine.
Category: Features, Pharmaceuticals
