The edges of the tumour in blue are clear against the green healthy tissue
Laser-guided surgery could improve the odds of removing all of a brain tumor by clearly highlighting its edges, US researchers say.
Surgeons are cautious with brain tumors as removing the surrounding tissue could lead to disability.
A technique, reported in Science Translational Medicine, used a laser to analyze the chemistry of the tissue and show the tumor in a different color.
Brain tumor researchers said it could be an “exciting development”.
Removing a brain tumor is a balancing act – takes too little and the cancer could return, take too much and it seriously affects a patient’s quality of life.
This technique could be an exciting development in visualizing tumor tissue, which is the first step in enhancing removal of disease”
The key knows the boundary of the tumor. Surgeons take sections of the tumor and surrounding tissue and look under a microscope for the differences between the two to find cancer’s edge.
A team at the University of Michigan Medical School and Harvard University has come up with a new way of analyzing the tissue, called SRS microscopy, while it is still in the brain.
A laser is fired at the tissue. However, the beam of light’s properties is changed depending on what it hits. The differing chemistry of a cancerous cell and normal brain tissue mean the laser can show a surgeon the outside edge of a tumor.
Dr Daniel Orringer told the BBC: “Neurosurgery is plagued by a problem, it’s very difficult to see when a brain tumor ends and normal tissue begins.
“If you’re removing a colon cancer you can take 2cm either side with no damage, but in the brain it could disable a patient.
“SRS microscopy allows us to see the margins on a microscopic scale.”
Smelling knife
The method has been tested in mice and on human brain samples, but actual trials in patients are still needed.
This is just the latest in a series of developments aimed at improving surgery. A team at Imperial College London has developed a knife that can detect the “smell” of cancer so it knows if it is cutting through tumor or healthy tissue.
Dr Colin Watts, a Cancer Research UK brain tumor expert at the University of Cambridge, said: “It needs to be tested in a clinical trial, but this technique could be an exciting development in visualizing tumor tissue, which is the first step in enhancing removal of disease.
“A crucial factor will be to ensure that patient safety is not compromised. This technique is particularly exciting because it has the potential for helping us to remove tissue at the tumor/brain interface from where recurrent disease can emerge.
“It will also be interesting to determine if SRS microscopy can be used in tumors that recur after treatment.”
Source BBC news