TUMORS, 'COLORED' CELLS FOR EFFECTIVE INTERVENTIONS

Staining tumor cells could make surgical operations much easier and more efficient. A group of researchers from Massachusetts who designed this new technique, presented at the annual meeting of the American Chemical Society, are convinced of this. Trials on humans started this summer, after having carried out several tests on animals. The new technique has already been successfully applied on two women affected by breast cancer. The procedure uses chemical dyes (called 'fluorophores') capable of 'adhering' exclusively to the surface of the cancer cells. Once this special 'dye' was injected into the patient's body, an infrared lamp illuminated the stained structures allowing them to be viewed on an external monitor. "These substances are invisible to the human eye, the surgeon can only observe them through the monitor", explained the researchers. But thanks to the 'luminous' image of cancer cells that appears on the monitor, surgeries to remove the cancer are much more precise. According to the researchers, in this way surgeons can see in real time what they are removing and are much more likely not to cause damage to healthy cells. The technique, which will be applied to other patients in September, could be very effective especially for the removal of prostate, lung and breast tumors. (AGI) — Washington, Aug. 26. –