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TUESDAY, Aug. 19 (HealthDay News) -- A new imaging system that highlights cancerous tissue makes it easier for surgeons to detect and remove tumors without harming surrounding healthy tissue, according to U.S. researchers.

The fluorescence-assisted resection and exploration (FLARE) system --which consists of a near-infrared (NIR) imaging system, a video monitor and a computer -- shows particular promise for improving surgery for breast, prostate and lung cancers. In advanced stages, the boundaries of these cancers can be difficult to define. FLARE may also help cancer surgeons avoid cutting important structures such as blood vessels and nerves.

Patients are injected with special dyes (NIR fluorphores) that target specific structures such as cancer cells. When exposed to NIR light, the dyes light up the cancer cells, which appear on a video monitor.

Details about the development and early clinical trials of the new system were to be presented Aug. 19 at the national meeting of the American Chemical Society, in Philadelphia.

"This technique is really the first time that cancer surgeons can see structures that are otherwise invisible, providing true image-guided surgery. If we're able to see cancer, we have a chance of curing it," project director Dr. John Frangioni, co-director of the Center for Imaging Technology and Molecular Diagnostics at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, said in an ACS news release.

In preliminary trials, the researchers used FLARE to visualize organs and body fluids of mice and map the lymph nodes of pigs, all in real time. The first human clinical trials, which may begin this summer, will involve mapping the lymph nodes of breast cancer patients.

Currently, cancer surgeons have no clear way to determine in real-time whether they've removed all of a patient's cancerous tissue.

More information

The American Cancer Society has more about cancer surgery  .

TUESDAY, Aug. 19 (HealthDay News) -- A mathematical model to find blood biomarkers that can help doctors estimate the size of cancer tumors has been developed by researchers at Stanford University.

The team says its work may help guide development of new tests to improve early detection of cancer. Currently, there's no reliable method of using the results of blood-screening tests to gauge tumor size.

The Stanford researchers developed their mathematical model using two common blood biomarkers: prostate specific antigen (PSA), which is often elevated in prostate cancer, and CA125, used as a marker for follow-up therapy in ovarian cancer patients.

Using this model, the researchers found that the minimum tumor sizes predicted by their calculations were close to what was actually seen in clinical practice.

"We're pretty happy that we came up with rather realistic tumor sizes. Although this is a very basic model, it should give researchers a tool to use when deciding if a particular secreted protein would be a good biomarker," radiologist Dr. Amelie Lutz said in a Stanford news release.

"Early cancer detection is a very challenging but important goal for the cancer field. This modeling work enables a very deep understanding of the problems that will have to be solved for blood-based cancer biomarkers to be successful in this effort," study senior author Dr. Sanjiv Sam Gambhir, a professor of radiology, said in the news release.

The study was published in the Aug. 18 issue of the journal PLoS Medicine.

More information

The American Academy of Family Physicians has more about early detection of cancer  .

THURSDAY, Aug. 7 (HealthDay News) -- Two genes linked to breast, thyroid and kidney cancer have been identified by Cleveland Clinic researchers. The discovery of the genes SDHB and SDHD could help improve early detection of these cancers and boost patients' chances of survival.

In addition, the researchers said their finding could improve screening and treatment of patients with Cowden Syndrome (CS) and CS-like disease, which are difficult-to-recognize conditions that lead to a high risk of developing breast, thyroid and other cancers.

Normally, a gene called PTEN acts to suppress cancers. Mutations in PTEN determine susceptibility to CS, but some people with normal PTEN still develop CS, according to background information in a clinic news release.

The reseaqrchers identified SDHB and SDHD as markers of CS susceptibility in people with normal PTEN. In fact, mutations in these genes confer a higher risk of breast, thyroid and kidney cancers than PTEN mutations for individuals with dysfunctional PTEN, the researchers said.

"Clinicians should consider SDH testing for patients who have a strong personal history and/or family history of breast, thyroid and/or kidney cancers especially when their PTEN is normal. Patients with SDH mutations should be more rigorously screened for these cancers," lead researcher Dr. Chris Eng said in the news release.

Rigorous screening may reveal cancer at a earlier, more treatable stage.

The study is published in the Aug. 8 issue of The American Journal of Human Genetics.

More information

The U.S. National Cancer Institute has more about gene testing and cancer.

MONDAY, July 7 (HealthDay News) -- A compound found in red grapes and red wine suppresses abnormal cell formation that leads to most types of breast cancer, according to U.S. researchers.

The compound, resveratrol, is sold in extract form as a dietary supplement.

Breast cancer forms through a multi-stage process that differs depending on the type of disease, a person's genes, and other factors. However, it's known that increased estrogen fuels many types of breast cancer.

"Resveratrol has the ability to prevent the first step that occurs when estrogen starts the process that leads to cancer by blocking the formation of the estrogen DNA adducts. We believe that this could stop the whole progression that leads to breast cancer down the road," study author Eleanor G. Rogan, a professor in the Eppley Institute for Research in Cancer and Allied Diseases at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, said in a prepared statement.

In laboratory testing, Rogan and her team found that as little as 10 umol/L of resveratrol could suppress DNA adducts associated with breast cancer. A glass of red wine contains between 9 and 28 umol/L of resveratrol.

Rogan and colleagues also found that reseveratrol suppressed expression of CYP1B1 and the formation of 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin, two known risk factors for breast cancer.

Resveratrol induces an enzyme called quinone reductase, which reduces the estrogen metabolite back to inactive form and reduces breast cancer risk, Rogan explained.

The findings, which are in the July issue of Cancer Prevention Research, will have to be confirmed in human trials, she noted.

More information

The U.S. National Cancer Institute has more about breast cancer prevention.