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醫療新知 > 癌細胞清除乾淨沒 這枝筆輕輕一掃便知

癌細胞清除乾淨沒 這枝筆輕輕一掃便知

07-09-2017

 

(中央社華盛頓6日綜合外電報導)癌症患者動手術時最擔心的莫過於外科醫師未將腫瘤清除乾淨,專家現在已經研發出一種新型筆狀工具,能將這樣的憂慮一掃而空。



法新社報導,美國德州大學奧斯汀分校(University of Texas at Austin)科學家和工程師研發的這項工具稱為「質譜筆」(MasSpec Pen,暫譯),能讓移除腫瘤的外科醫師在幾秒內就能偵測出組織裡的癌細胞,讓醫師立刻知道自己是否已經發現且移除所有癌細胞。


目前要花上好幾天時間才能確定外科醫師是否切除所有癌細胞;如果有所遺漏,可能會導致患者癌症復發,或至少必須再動一次手術來將病變細胞清乾淨。


美聯社引述研究主筆、德州大學奧斯汀分校化學副教授厄伯林(Livia Eberlin)表示,每個人最大夢魘,莫過於動刀後仍有癌細胞殘留的可能性,「透過提供即時分子資料,我們真的可以提高精準度」。


「科學轉譯醫學」(Science Translational Medicine)今天刊登的研究指出,這種筆在手術中只需10秒左右的時間就能辨識出癌組織。


手術期間用質譜筆接觸組織,輕輕引出小分子,再透過筆尖探針內建的小型質譜儀來進行分析。它能透過一種稱為代謝物(metabolites)的獨特分子來辨識癌細胞。


研究說:「每種癌症都會產生一組獨特的代謝物和其他作用有如指紋的生物標記。」


質譜筆能在幾秒內辨識出殘餘的癌細胞,連接質譜筆的監視器會顯示細胞為「正常」或是「癌」。這讓外科醫師得以繼續清除癌細胞,直到幾乎確定已經清除所有癌細胞為止;對於哪個組織要留在患者體內,醫師也能做出更好的判斷。

 


根據這項研究,自253名人類癌症患者身上移除的組織檢測顯示,這種新型工具的「準確率超過96%」。

http://www.cna.com.tw/news/ahel/201709070184-1.aspx

 

 

zhang2HR

The MasSpec Pen is a handheld probe that can non-destructively analyze human tissue samples to identify cancer. Vivian Abagiu/Univ. of Texas at Austin

This Pen Can Diagnose Cancer in 10 Seconds

Sep 06, 2017

TIME Health

For more, visit TIME Health.

When it comes to treating cancer, surgeons want to get rid of as much cancerous tissue as possible during tumor removal. Now a new technology—the size of a pen—is attempting to make that easier by distinguishing between tumors and healthy tissue in just 10 seconds.

The MasSpec Pen is a real-time diagnostic tool created by researchers at the University of Texas at Austin. In a new study published Wednesday in the journal Science Translational Medicine, the researchers report that their handheld device (which is not yet FDA-approved) uses tiny droplets of water to analyze human tissue samples for cancer with 96% accuracy.

 

“It’s a gentle, simple chemical process,” says study author Livia Schiavinato Eberlin , an assistant professor of chemistry at UT Austin. “It’s highly specific and highly sensitive. The fact that it’s non-destructive brings a new approach to cancer diagnosis.”

MORE: Researchers Find a Way to Light Up Cancer Cells

Getting rid of all cancerous tissue while also preventing any harm to healthy tissue is a delicate process. When operating on a woman with breast cancer, for example, a doctor needs to remove the tumor and other affected tissues while maintaining the rest of the breast. Currently there are other tools available to surgeons for tissue diagnosis, but many use gases or solvents that can be harmful for the human body. In 2016, researchers in Massachusetts reportedthat they developed a probe that can find and light up cancer cells, making them easier for surgeons to see. But other methods currently available to surgeons today are slower than the MasSpec Pen, the study authors say, in some cases by 30 minutes or more.

Human cells produce a variety of small molecules, and cancer creates a unique set of them that can be used for pattern identification. The MasSpec Pen produces a small drop of water that extracts molecules from a person’s cells during surgery. Through machine learning, the MasSpec Pen is able to determine what molecular fingerprint is normal and what is cancer, Eberlin says.

In the study, the researchers tested 253 human tissue samples from lung, ovary, thyroid and breast cancer tumors and compared them to samples of healthy tissues. The device was 96% accurate at identifying cancerous tissues. The researchers also tested the MasSpec Pen in live mice with tumors and found that the device was able to identify the presence of cancer without harming healthy surrounding tissues. The device can also identify different subtypes of lung and thyroid cancer, and the team hopes to make it more specified for other types of cancer, too.

 

The researchers say they need to continue validating their work and that they plan to start clinical testing in humans in 2018. Until then, it’s unclear how exactly the device will work when integrated into surgery. While the pen-sized device that the surgeon would use is small, the device is connected to a large mass spectrometer, which helps the process of analyzing individual molecules . That large machine would need to be wheeled in and out of a surgery room for each procedure. The pen is disposable, so surgeons would replace it with each surgery.

“This is a good example of a tool that empowers our transition to precision medicine where the treatment can be done with much higher levels of confidence,” says study author Thomas Milner, professor of biomedical engineering in UT Austin's Cockrell School of Engineering . “Treatment can be planned and given where the outcomes are known. This is one tool along that path.”

http://time.com/4928010/diagnose-cancer-pen/

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