by Bob Yirka report
(MedicalXpress)—A team of doctors and researchers at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles is taking a new dye into medical trials to see if it might help make for a better outcome for patients undergoing brain surgery to have a tumor removed—the dye is meant to highlight the tumor making it easier to differentiate between tumor and brain tissue.
The dye was developed after it was learned that chlorotoxin, a protein found in scorpion venom adheres to chloride receptors on the surface of tumor cells. The second ingredient is actually the dye, a non-toxic biodegradable chemical that glows when exposed to near infrared light. The thinking was that the resultant fluid, if injected into the bloodstream, would cross the blood-brain barrier, flow around in the brain and then stick to a tumor if one existed. To see the tumor better, a surgeon would need only to shine an infrared light on it. The new fluid dye is being made for the team by Blaze Bioscience.
The research is being spearheaded by pediatric oncologist, Doctor Jim Olson, who recently spoke with reporters at NPR—he reported that initial tests with animals proved promising enough to get FDA approval to try it out on human patients. Thus far, the team has tried it with just one patient, who turned out to have a deep tumor, which prevented a near infrared lamp from being used. But after the tumor was removed, they found that it did indeed shine brightly under the light. They plan to do more such deep surgeries before using the technique directly on a tumor that is under operation.
A lot more testing is to be done on the dye, of course, such as to make sure it adheres to all of a tumor—not just parts of it—to discover if it will truly be beneficial to brain cancer benefits. The ideal, Olson said, would be to eliminate surgery altogether as it will never be precise enough to get every tumor cell while simultaneously avoiding cutting out healthy brain tissue—a better approach would be to figure out how to carry a substance with the chlorotoxin, or other similar substance, that can attack the tumor directly.
Explore further: Fluorescent dyes 'light up' brain cancer cells
© 2015 Medical Xpress
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by Bob Yirka report
(MedicalXpress)—A team of doctors and researchers at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles is taking a new dye into medical trials to see if it might help make for a better outcome for patients undergoing brain surgery to have a tumor removed—the dye is meant to highlight the tumor making it easier to differentiate between tumor and brain tissue.
The dye was developed after it was learned that chlorotoxin, a protein found in scorpion venom adheres to chloride receptors on the surface of tumor cells. The second ingredient is actually the dye, a non-toxic biodegradable chemical that glows when exposed to near infrared light. The thinking was that the resultant fluid, if injected into the bloodstream, would cross the blood-brain barrier, flow around in the brain and then stick to a tumor if one existed. To see the tumor better, a surgeon would need only to shine an infrared light on it. The new fluid dye is being made for the team by Blaze Bioscience.
The research is being spearheaded by pediatric oncologist, Doctor Jim Olson, who recently spoke with reporters at NPR—he reported that initial tests with animals proved promising enough to get FDA approval to try it out on human patients. Thus far, the team has tried it with just one patient, who turned out to have a deep tumor, which prevented a near infrared lamp from being used. But after the tumor was removed, they found that it did indeed shine brightly under the light. They plan to do more such deep surgeries before using the technique directly on a tumor that is under operation.
A lot more testing is to be done on the dye, of course, such as to make sure it adheres to all of a tumor—not just parts of it—to discover if it will truly be beneficial to brain cancer benefits. The ideal, Olson said, would be to eliminate surgery altogether as it will never be precise enough to get every tumor cell while simultaneously avoiding cutting out healthy brain tissue—a better approach would be to figure out how to carry a substance with the chlorotoxin, or other similar substance, that can attack the tumor directly.
Explore further: Fluorescent dyes 'light up' brain cancer cells
© 2015 Medical Xpress
Medical Xpress on facebook
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Two new fluorescent dyes attracted to cancer cells may help neurosurgeons more accurately localize and completely resect brain tumors, suggests a study in the February issue of Neurosurgery, official journal of the Congre ...
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Researchers at the Cedars-Sinai Maxine Dunitz Neurosurgical Institute and Department of Neurosurgery have developed a unique, compact, relatively inexpensive imaging device to "light up" malignant brain tumors and other cancers.
Scientists invent system to improve effectiveness of cancer surgery
With the goal of making it easier for surgeons to detect malignant tissue during surgery and hopefully reduce the rate of cancer recurrence, scientists have invented a new imaging system that causes tumors to "light up" when ...
Unlikely pairing—an antidepressant plus dye—yields tumor-targeting tool
A team of scientists has created a "conjugate" molecule—one stitched together from two separate molecules—that seeks out and blocks prostate cancer growth in lab animals.
'Spotlight' drug detects lingering cancer cells
(Medical Xpress)—When a tumor is surgically removed, there's always a chance the cancer will return. Even the tiniest bit of malignancy left behind creates a pathway for the disease to recur—often within ...
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Researchers study new treatment for prostate cancer
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