Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine have identified a pair of proteins excreted in the urine that could lead to earlier and more accurate diagnosis of kidney cancer. They tested urine samples from 42 patients with an incidental radiographically discovered renal mass and a presumptive diagnosis of kidney cancer, and from 15 individuals who did not have cancer but were scheduled for surgery, and 19 healthy controls. They focused on two proteins that previously had been found in kidney tumors: aquaporin-1 (AQP1) and adipophilin (ADFP). Urine AQP1 and ADFP concentrations in patients with a pathologic diagnosis of clear cell or papillary cancer were significantly greater than in patients with renal cancer of nonproximal tubule origin, control surgical patients, and healthy volunteers. Together these two types account for about 90% of all kidney cancers. The concentrations correlated with tumor size and decreased sharply after nephrectomy. Further research is still needed but in the future these tests may allow for routine screening for kidney cancer.
Press release: Urine test for kidney cancer a step closer to development…
Article abstract in Mayo Clinic Proceedings : Urinary Biomarkers for the Early Diagnosis of Kidney Cancer…
Oncology Archives
Urinary Biomarkers for Early Kidney Cancer Diagnosis
Nano-Bio-Chip Detects Oral Cancer
Researchers at Rice University have developed a nano-bio-chip sensor technique that shows promise as a new diagnostic tool for early detection of oral cancer. The nano-bio-chip integrates multiple laboratory processes into a microfluidic platform: cell separation/capture on the membrane filter, biomarker immunolabeling and cytochemical staining, and fluorescent imaging and analysis. It avoids the need for a biopsy, as it requires just a brush of the lesion on the cheek or tongue to obtain a cytology sample. First results obtained with the chip appeared online in the journal Cancer Prevention Research. The study compared results of traditional diagnostic tests with those obtained with nano-bio-chips on a sample of 52 participants, all of whom had visible oral lesions, leukoplakia or erythroplakia, and had been referred to specialists for surgical biopsies or removal of the lesions. The test that uses the nano-bio-chip was found to be 97 percent sensitive and 93 percent specific in detecting which patients had malignant or premalignant lesions. A larger trial involving 500 patients has been planned. Researchers hope the eventual deployment of nano-bio-chips will dramatically cut the cost of medical diagnostics and contribute significantly to the task of bringing quality health care to the world.
Press statement from Rice University: Chip checks for oral cancer…
CTC-chip Identifies Circulating Tumor Cells in Cancer Patients
Shannon Stott and colleagues at Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Engineering in Medicine have been developing a device that can accurately count and characterize rare circulating tumor cells (CTC) within blood. The technology in the CTC-chip already seems precise enough to identify the presence of localized or metastatic prostate cancer in real patients.
The MGH team used the automated system to analyze CTCs from two groups of prostate cancer patients. After the cells were initially captured on the CTC-chip, which is covered with microscopic posts coated with antibody to a common tumor protein, the cells were tagged using an antibody to prostate-specific antigen, allowing rapid scanning and more comprehensive visualization of the CTCs. Samples taken from a group of men with localized prostate cancer right before and at several intervals after surgical removal showed that, while CTCs disappeared immediately after surgery in some patients, CTC levels dropped only modestly in others. Analyzing CTCs from a group of patients being treated for metastatic prostate cancer revealed that, among patients whose tumors were responding to treatment, only a few CTCs displayed a marker found on proliferating cells. But in patients whose tumors were not responding, the majority of CTCs displayed the proliferation marker.
Dual-Modality Breast Tomosynthesis Expected to Improve Breast Cancer Detection
University of Virginia Cancer Center researchers have developed a hybrid breast imaging device which combines 3-D anatomical (structural) imaging and 3-D biological (functional) imaging, into one integrated device. Breast visualization is currently performed mainly using mammography and ultrasound but these methods can be unreliable in radiographically dense breasts and the rate of false-positive results is high. The newly developed system uses 3-D digital X-ray breast tomosynthesis together with 3-D molecular breast imaging tomosynthesis, a recently developed technique that uses intravenously injected tracers that are absorbed to a much greater degree by malignant lesions than benign ones. A special camera positioned in close proximity to the breast then performs functional imaging of the entire breast, while the digital x-ray tomosynthesis obtains co-registered structural images. It is expected that this technique can more accurately pinpoint the exact location of breast masses and more accurately distinguish between cancerous and harmless lesions, although further studies are still needed. Results of a pilot study with 17 women are presented in the April 2010 issue of Radiology.
More from the University of Virginia press statement: Pioneering Breast Scanner Holds Great Promise for Accurately Detecting and Diagnosing Breast Cancer at Its Earliest Stages…
Automated Whole Breast Ultrasound Shows Promising Results
TechniScan of Salt Lake City, UT has developed the Warm Bath Ultrasound breast imaging system, a software-controlled ultrasound system that performs an automated whole breast examination. The patient lies prone on the system’s examination table with the breast suspended in a warm water bath maintained near skin temperature, while an ultrasound array is moved in a continuous scan so that a complete series of 2-D image slices of the breast are collected. The resulting images can then be viewed on a DICOM review station. First results of a usability study were presented at the breast center conference in Las Vegas on March 21. The technology was able to distinguish between fibroglandular and other complex structures within the breast and was able to provide 3-D visualization of lesion location. Scans took approximately 12 minutes per breast and required no breast compression.
Press release: Groundbreaking whole breast, warm bath ultrasound technology is producing promising results…
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Virginia Prostate Exam Simulator Aids Prostate Cancer Screening
One of the parts of the physical examination most dreaded by medical students can soon be comfortably practiced without the need for live patients. Researchers at the University of Virginia have developed the Virginia Prostate Exam Simulator, a device that allows students to experience numerous scenarios that simulate prostate cancer. It consists of an anatomical model with four different prostates that can be altered by the inflation and deflation of small water balloons inside. The simulator is capable of simulating more than 100 malignancy scenarios and can be programmed to simulate graded stages of cancerous tumors and benign prostatic hyperplasia. The device has been in development since 2006 with grants from the Academy of Distinguished Educators in the School of Medicine and the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program.
Press release: New Medical Training Simulator Aids Prostate Cancer Screening…
GE Adds Elastography Capability to LOGIQ E9 Ultrasound Device
GE Healthcare has announced that elastography capabilities have been added to its flagship LOGIQ E9 ultrasound platform. Elastography uses mechanical compression to analyze the stiffness of tissues; the software calculates the strain in the region of interest after compression. This calculation creates an elastogram which is a color overlay on top of the B-mode image that represents tissue elasticity. Pathologic lesions are usually considerably more resistant to compression than healthy tissue. A quality indicator monitors the operator’s compression technique.
This offering is in line with recent announcements by other ultrasound developers implementing this technology in their ultrasound systems.
BluePrint Identifies Breast Cancer Molecular Subtypes
Agendia (Huntington Beach, CA and Amsterdam, The Netherlands) has expanded its line of breast cancer genetic profiling tests with BluePrint, a molecular subtyping profile that distinguishes Basal-type, Luminal-type and ERBB2-type (HER2/neu positive) subgroups of tumors. The BluePrint signature determines the RNA levels of 80 genes that best discriminate among these three distinctive subtypes. It is used in combination with the already existing Mammaprint test. Patients with different molecular profiles might have different prognoses with varied responses to specific therapies, so it is expected that in the future the test results could guide therapy decisions.
Press release: Agendia Launches BluePrint(TM) Expanding Breast Cancer Product Offering…
Hitachi Offers Its Own Take on Ultrasound Elastography
Major ultrasound companies Siemens, GE, and Philips have all offered differing flavors of ultrasound elastography, and now Hitachi has entered the market with Hitachi Real-Time Tissue Elastography (HiRTE). Elastography is a technology that uses ultrasound to tell clinicians about the relative tissue hardness, approved in Europe for identifying firmer, possibly cancerous, regions of soft tissues such as liver, breast, and prostate. It uses the visualization of the propagation of mechanical waves through the tissue to derive either a shear wave velocity or a Young’s modulus as a measure of tissues stiffness. Hitachi’s claim about the measurement being real-time is in comparison to other providers of elastography which require post-processing of static images either at another workstation or after the image is taken. The Hitachi application will be part of its compact platform Hi Vision Avius.
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