A traditional stained biopsy (L) and a Digistain view
(R)
New cutting edge technology can be used to grade cancer tumours, eradicating human subjectivity and ensuring patients get the right treatment.
A new imaging technology to grade tumour biopsies has been developed by a team of scientists led by the Department of Physics and the Department of Surgery and Cancer at Imperial College London.
Publishing their results today in the journal Convergent Science Physical Oncology, they describe how their new method promises to significantly reduce the subjectivity and variability in grading the severity of cancers.
[Digistain] is an extremely reliable indicator of the degree of progression of the disease. Because it is based on a physical measurement, rather than a human judgement, it promises to remove the element of chance in cancer diagnosis.Professor Chris Phillips
Nearly all cancers are still diagnosed by doctors taking a sample of the tumour, a so-called biopsy, then slicing it thinly and staining it with two vegetable dyes used for more than 100 years. They look at this ‘H+E stained’ sample under a microscope and then judge the severity of the disease by eye alone.
Life-changing treatment decisions have to be based on this ‘grading’ process, yet it is well known that different practitioners given the same slice will only agree on its grade about 70% of the time, resulting in an overtreatment problem.
The team’s new ‘Digistain’ technology addresses this problem by using invisible mid-infrared light to photograph the tissue slices in a way that maps out the chemical changes that signal the onset of cancer. In particular, they measure the ‘nuclear-to-cytoplasmic-ratio’ (NCR): a recognized biological marker for a wide range of cancers.
Lead author Professor Chris Phillips, from the Department of Physics at Imperial, said: “Our machine gives a quantitative ‘Digistain index’ (DI) score, corresponding to the NCR, and this study shows that it is an extremely reliable indicator of the degree of progression of the disease. Because it is based on a physical measurement, rather than a human judgement, it promises to remove the element of chance in cancer diagnosis. “
Eliminating subjectivity
In the experiment reported today, the team carried out a double-blind clinical pilot trial using two adjacent slices taken from 75 breast cancer biopsies. The first slice was graded by clinicians as usual, using the standard H+E protocol. It was also used to identify the so-called ‘region of interest’ (RoI), i.e. the part of the slice containing the tumour.
The team then used the Digistain imager to get a DI value averaged over the corresponding RoI on the other, unstained slice, and ran a statistical analysis on the results.
Professor Phillips said: “Even with this modest number of samples, the correlation we saw between the DI score and the H+E grade would only happen by chance 1 time in 1400 trials. The strength of this correlation makes us extremely optimistic that Digistain will be able to eliminate subjectivity and variability in biopsy grading.”
Proving its worth
The NCR factor that Digistain measures is known to be common to a wide range of cancers, as it occurs when the reproductive cell cycle gets disrupted in the tumour and cell nuclei get distorted with rogue DNA. It is likely that in the long run, Digistain could help with the diagnosis of all different types of cancer.
At a practical level, the researchers say that the Digistain imaging technology can easily and cheaply be incorporated into existing hospital labs, and be used by their staff. Professor Philips added: “It’s easy to prove its worth by checking it with the thousands of existing biopsy specimens that are already held in hospital archives. Together these facts will smooth the path into the clinic, and it could be saving lives in only a couple of years.”
Learn more: ‘Digistain’ technology offers revolution in detailed cancer diagnosis
The Latest on: Cancer diagnosis
via Google News
The Latest on: Cancer diagnosis
- With skin cancer cases on the rise in region, state, here's what you need to knowon August 6, 2022 at 5:35 am
Skin cancer is an abnormal growth of skin cells and most often develops on skin exposed to the sun. But this common form of cancer can also occur on areas of skin not ordinarily exposed to sunlight.
- This May Be the #1 Best Food to Prevent Breast Canceron August 6, 2022 at 5:00 am
To help lower your risk of developing breast cancer, you may want to adopt a diet that includes these foods, according to a new study.
- Here are the Signs of Pancreatic Cancer Alex Trebek Felton August 6, 2022 at 4:45 am
Beloved Jeopardy host Alex Trebek passed away on November 8, 2020 after being diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer in March 2019.
- Simple Ways to Avoid Pancreatic Cancer, Say Doctorson August 6, 2022 at 4:00 am
Pancreatic cancer is considered one of the deadliest cancers because it's difficult to diagnose and is oftentimes discovered in later stages.
- Stewarton woman's leg saved with remarkable surgery after bone cancer diagnosison August 6, 2022 at 2:02 am
An Ayrshire cancer patient is getting back to normal life after her leg was saved during remarkable surgery in the middle of Covid restrictions. The extraordinary operation carried out at the NHS ...
- Trump Ally Skeptical of Jared Kushner's Cancer Diagnosison August 5, 2022 at 1:06 pm
"I saw the guy every day. There's no sign that he was in any pain or danger or whatever," Peter Navarro said of Kushner.
- Former Trump advisor Peter Navarro suggests Jared Kushner faked his cancer diagnosis for sympathy to sell his memoiron August 5, 2022 at 5:20 am
Jared Kushner wrote in a forthcoming memoir that he was treated for thyroid cancer while working at the White House.
- Breastfeeding my baby resulted in my breast cancer diagnosison August 4, 2022 at 8:27 am
During World Breastfeeding Week (1-7 August), one woman reveals the shock discovery that forced her to stop breastfeeding her baby.
- ABCD: AFTER BREAST CANCER DIAGNOSIS ANNOUNCES AWARD-WINNING PERFORMER KRYSTA RODRIGUEZ TO HEADLINE FREE VIRTUAL EVENTon August 4, 2022 at 7:00 am
After Breast Cancer Diagnosis, is thrilled to announce award-winning performer Krysta Rodriguez will star in its marquee virtual event and fundraiser, A Night In with ABCD. Best known for her Netflix ...
via Bing News