The latest diagnostic
imaging techniques are allowing doctors to perform complicated brain surgery more accurately than ever before.
In the past, even the most skilled surgeon struggled to remove the entire
tumour without damaging adjacent healthy tissue, but new nanoparticle imaging
shows the boundaries between normal and cancerous tissue more clearly than is
currently possible.
Scientists at Stanford University used MRI scans and microscopic gold balls
specially coated with chemicals which are sensitive enough to allow the surgeon
to see any residual material – even during the procedure.
"This type of multimodal approach to tumour imaging has great potential
and means these techniques could help to make brain surgery more precise,"
said Cancer Research UK scientist Dr Nicola Sibson.
According to the charity, brain and central nervous system tumours account for
two per cent of the total cancer cases in the UK.
© Adfero Ltd
Cancer treatment news : 22 April 2012
