Cancer-Detecting Microscope: Medicine's Next Big Thing?

SEATTLE. (KFSN) -- What if doctors could diagnose suspected cancer cells without having to take a biopsy from a patient? A new project being funded by the National Institutes of Health is making that possible.

As the inventor of tumor paint, a chemical that illuminates tumors during surgery, Jim Olson, M.D., an oncologist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Washington, has been praised for his groundbreaking work. But now, he's excited about the creation of a new invention.

Dr. Olson told Ivanhoe, "This is very personal to me. I take care of these little kids with brain cancer and in many cases they could be entirely cured if we completely removed the tumor during surgery."

Thanks to a new handheld microscope, doctors can zoom in on a suspicious lesion, distinguish cancerous cells from healthy tissue and know exactly where to cut.

"Anytime you're telling the patient you could perform a diagnostic without having to remove some their tissue, I'm sure it's a very attractive thing," said Dr. Olson.

Project engineer at the University of Washington in Seattle, Jon Liu, said another attractive feature about this microscope is that it's much smaller than current diagnostic devices, so doctors can use it right in their offices.

"This is already quite a small mirror, but in here, there is even a smaller mirror called a mems mirror and that's where they are scanning the laser into the tissue so we can see beneath the surface of the tissue," Liu told Ivanhoe.

Dr. Olson said, "It's another tool in the toolbox that surgeons have."

The microscope was created by engineers at the University of Washington. It will initially be used to detect things like oral cancers. Researchers anticipate it will be used on patients later this year.

If you would like more information, please contact:

Kristen Lidke Woodward

Media Relations

206-667-5095

kwoodwar@fredhutch.org