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Strategies & Market Trends : Biotechnology Cancer Cures -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jim Oravetz who wrote (167)	7/17/2000 12:57:26 PM
From: Jim Oravetz	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 226

Test shines spotlight on cancer cells By Amy Norton NEW YORK, Jul 05 (Reuters Health) - A non-invasive test that acts like a flashlight into the body's tissue may help scientists detect some cancers in their earliest stages, according to researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. A technique called light-scattering spectroscopy can catch precancerous and early cancerous changes in the cells that line the inside of body tissue--all without removing a tissue sample, according to a report in the July 6th issue of Nature. The vast majority of cancers begin in the linings of organs, and in experiments with cells from the lining of the colon, bladder, esophagus and mouth, scientists found that spectroscopy caught precancerous lesions. Lead researcher Michael S. Feld told Reuters Health that although spectroscopy itself is nothing new, the way in which his team analyzes its results is new. In the earliest stages of cancer, the cell nucleus enlarges and shows other subtle abnormalities. Using spectroscopy, Feld and his colleagues shone light onto cells, then analyzed the way the cells scattered the light. Particular patterns of "back-scattering" signaled whether there were precancerous changes in the cells. Feld compared the technique to the formation of a rainbow, which is created when water droplets in the atmosphere scatter white sunlight. Certain characteristics of the water droplets, like size and density, determine the color distribution of the rainbow, Feld explained. In the case of spectroscopy, the cells that line body tissue act as the water droplets and the light shined into tissue through an endoscope plays the role of the sun. Unlike tissue biopsy, light-scattering spectroscopy requires no tissue removal and the results are available immediately. "Once the method is validated in a large study," Feld said, "it may become the standard method of searching for precancer." He predicted that the technique could become standard within 2 years. Whether it might serve as a cancer screening tool for the general population--like Pap smears for cervical cancer--is a more complex question, Feld noted. SOURCE: Nature 2000;406:35-36. Jim