Laser based breast cancer diagnosis technique to be tested on human breast tissue for the first time

11 Apr 2013

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A technique that could take away the anxious wait by patients for breast cancer results by removing the need for a needle biopsy is to have its performance evaluated for the first time, on breast tissue and lymph nodes.

The method originally invented at STFC’s Central Laser Facility has already been proven as a viable option for detecting abnormalities picked up by mammograms but has not yet been tested on human breast tissue ex vivo. A grant awarded to the University of Exeter and STFC in partnership with the Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council today (7 March 2013) will make this possible.

The laser technique known as Spatially Offset Raman Spectroscopy (SORS) (link opens in a new window)allows non-see-through objects such as tissue to be analysed deep beneath their surface, without them being cut open. The technique is already being used (link opens in a new window) in security scanners to detect liquid explosives and at the end of last year, PhD student Marleen Kerssens - funded by STFC’s Biomedical Network and the Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (link opens in a new window) – proved through tests on pork, that the same concept could be used to detect if shadows picked up on mammograms are benign or malignant.

The new grant will allow the team of researchers to optimise the sensitivity and penetration depth of the technique further and, for the first time, evaluate its performance on human breast tissue that has been removed during operations (excised tissue) and put forward by consenting patients for use in research.

See here (link opens in a new window) for the full STFC press release