Glowing chemical could help cancer surgery - study

A chemical that makes brain tumours glow pink could help surgeons remove the cancer safely, new tests have suggested.

Researchers, however, acknowledged that the study looked at patients who were already suspected of having high-grade tumours.

They suggested, too, that a larger study, involving more patients with low-grade disease, would provide more information on the use of this technique.

“Other types of markers may need to be tested for detecting low-grade glioma cells,” the research team said.

In the new tests, scientists gave people with suspected glioma a drink containing 5-ALA, a substance known to accumulate in fast-growing cancer cells.

The pink glow the chemical causes was found in people with the most aggressive cancers, the test indicated.

Treatment for glioma, the most common form of brain cancer, usually involves surgery to remove as much of the cancer as possible and the prognosis for patients are often poor.

But according to researchers, this new procedure could make it easier for surgeons to distinguish between cancer cells and healthy brain tissue.

The next steps, they suggested, should include testing the 5-ALA in children with brain tumours as well as to help surgeons distinguish between tumour tissue and scar tissue in adult patients whose brain cancers recurred following treatment.

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