Glowing dye helps to locate hidden prostate cancer cells

Scientists from University of Oxford believe that a special kind of fluorescent dye may help surgeons better locate and remove prostate cancer cells.

In a small early trial on 23 men, surgeons reported that it helped them find areas of cancerous tissue not picked up by other clinical methods or the naked eye.

A larger trial is now planned, to be funded by Cancer Research UK.

In some of the 23 men having prostate cancer operations, surgeons spotted cancer cells that had spread to nearby lymph nodes and tissue, which they say they may have missed with conventional methods.

Lead researcher Professor Freddie Hamdy said that it was too early to know if the method would work on every patient, but that it was “promising”, adding “In many patients, we saw cancer that we would not have seen otherwise.  It’s the first time we’ve managed to see such fine details of prostate cancer in real-time during surgery.

“With this technique, we can strip all the cancer away, including the cells that have spread from the tumour which could give it the chance to come back later.  Equally important is the cancer we don’t see.”

Dr Iain Foulkes, executive director of research and innovation at CRUK, said “We need better tools to spot cancers which have started to spread further.  The combined marker dye and imaging system that this research has developed could fundamentally transform how we treat prostate cancer in the future.”

CRUK hopes that if the trials go well, the dye could be adapted to use in surgery for other types of cancer too in the future.

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Posted by Karen Motley, Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (jacquelinevance@chadlaw.co.uk), medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.

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