PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

29-Oct-2014

Contact: Krista Conger kristac@stanford.edu 650-725-5371 Stanford University Medical Center @sumedicine

Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have developed a new strategy that they say could detect bladder cancer with more accuracy and sensitivity than standard endoscopy methods. Endoscopy refers to a procedure in which surgeons use an instrument equipped with a lens to see inside the patient.

The researchers identified a protein known as CD47 as a molecular imaging target to distinguish bladder cancer from benign tissues. In the future, this technique could improve bladder cancer detection, guide more precise cancer surgery and reduce unnecessary biopsies, therefore increasing cancer patients' quality of life.

The work is described in a paper that will be published Oct. 29 in Science Translational Medicine.

Bladder cancer, the fifth most common cancer in the United States, is generally identified in the clinic by a procedure called cystoscopy, an endoscopy in the bladder. Then in the operating room, surgeons remove the cancerous tissue for biopsy.

Need for close monitoring

Bladder cancer must be monitored closely because it has one of the highest recurrence rates of all cancers. It is important that cystoscopy imaging be both highly sensitive (able to detect subtle cancer) and specific (able to distinguish between benign and cancerous tumors) so surgeons can remove cancerous tissue at an early stage to prevent invasion into the underlying muscle, which may require complete removal of the bladder. However, standard cystoscopy has insufficient sensitivity and specificity, particularly for flat-appearing cancers that blend in with the bladder and may be confused with inflammation.

"Our motivation is to improve optical diagnosis of bladder cancer that can better differentiate cancer from noncancer, which is exceedingly challenging at times. Molecular imaging offers the possibility of real-time cancer detection at the molecular level during diagnostic cystoscopy and tumor resection," said co-senior author Joseph Liao, MD, an associate professor of urology and the chief of urology at the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System. The lead author is Ying Pan, PhD, a research associate in Liao's lab.

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New molecular imaging technology could improve bladder-cancer detection