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Laser techniques can detect cancer early The results of two studies presented at the annual meeting of the American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery Inc. demonstrate two new procedures that may help cancer specialists diagnose malignancies at the very earliest stages, when they are most treatable.
Photodynamic therapy, one of the most recent and promising forms of cancer treatment, relies on the propensity of cancer cells to absorb a chemical photosensitizer more readily than normal cells. When light activates the chemical, causing it to fluoresce, cancer cells stand out from surrounding tissue. Now hyper-light-sensitive, the cancer cells can be destroyed by exposure to light. UB researchers demonstrated that by subjecting precancerous tissue to small doses of the photosensitizer and observing tissue uptake of the drug during transformation to malignancy-a procedure called in vivo fluorescence photometry-they could predict the time frame when the transformation begins. This advancement will allow cancer specialists to detect microscopic malignancies that would be undetectable by any other means. Once thoroughly studied, the procedure ultimately will allow specialists to diagnose a malignancy in its earliest stages-when it is most readily treatable-and will help cancer surgeons define the margins of a tumor with pinpoint accuracy prior to surgery. "Ultimately, we hope to use this procedure routinely to diagnose early changes, which will result in better outcomes, said Thomas S. Mang, UB research associate professor of oral surgery and lead researcher on the study. "We also think it can be used to perform fluorescence-guided biopsies, which will be much more accurate than any method we have now."
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One new technique, called optical spectroscopy, allows cancer specialists to determine the malignant status of tissue without using a chemical photosensitizer used in companion studies, by building on a tissue's autofluorescence, or natural response to light.
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