The official MedZine Blog

Scientists of the Brigham and Woman’s Hospital in Boston (USA) have tested a new method to let surgeons distinguish healthy tissue from cancer tissue in the breast. The results were positive. The publication can be read in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Up to 40 percent of women undergoing breast cancer surgery have to come in for a second surgery. Distinguishing cancer tissue from healthy tissue during surgery is not an easy task. Surgeons often fail to remove all cancer tissue.

The method described in this study is known as DESI (Desorption ElectroSpray Ionization) mass spectrometry imaging. With this method the distribution of certain substances can be observed in healthy and cancer tissue. This is done by changing molecules into charged ions. Hereafter the weight of the total amount of molecules can be determined, which should differ between healthy and cancer tissue.

In this research the distribution of fatty acids was observed among the different tissues. Several fatty acids, including oleic acid, where more abundant in breast cancer tissue than in healthy tissue. This was determined by tests on tissue samples of fourteen breast cancer patients.

This research shows that DESI mass spectrometry imaging is feasible for distinguishing breast cancer tissue from normal tissue. The scientists want to further develop the method so it can be used by surgeons in clinical practice. The scientists think that the number of second breast cancer surgeries decreases when this method will be applied. Further research should show how large this number will be in reality.

Source: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.