A new study found that measuring circulating tumor cells (CTCs), rare cancer cells shed from tumors into the blood, is a reliable way to predict later treatment response and survival prospects with metastatic prostate cancer.
A new method of analysing the crystals in dehydrated blood could lead to a quicker, cheaper and less painful technique to diagnose, early detect, and monitor prostate cancer.
Combining risk markers, systematic evaluation of MRI images and AI, researchers aim to predict the risk of prostate cancer more accurately than before. This could save many patients from a biopsy.
A new study shows that extracellular vesicles shed by prostate cancer cells contain tumor-derived material that can be used as biomarkers of therapy response and resistance in metastatic disease.
Adding a new dimension to pathology: Researchers explore new, deep learning models that can use 3D pathology datasets to make clinical outcome predictions for curated prostate cancer specimens.
US researchers have developed and validated a new urine-based test for prostate cancer, which was shown to meaningfully reduce unnecessary prostate biopsies while providing highly accurate detection.
A three-part ‘multiparametric’ MRI of the prostate is standard of care in the UK for patients suspected of having prostate cancer. Now, a study shows two-part scans are sufficient for diagnosis.
How often should men get checked for their level of PSA, a marker for prostate cancer? A German study involving over 12,500 men shows that a five-year interval between tests is safe.
Academic labs and biotech firms pioneer multi-cancer early detection with emerging technologies. Screening for multiple cancers with a simple blood or urinary draw could be a game-changer. Two research teams in particular have advanced the field.
AI models are highly capable in analysing tissue samples – as long as conditions are lab-perfect. Add a little contamination, however, and diagnostic accuracy goes out the window, a new study shows.
US researchers discuss three blood-based liquid biopsies, namely circulating tumor cells, circulating tumor DNA and tumor-derived exosomes, as they relate to prostate cancer management.
In a new study, UCLA researchers demonstrated how small cell neuroendocrine prostate cancer tumor cells can arise from less aggressive prostate tumors.
Philips and Quibim have signed a multi-year agreement to work on an integrated solution including an AI-based software to automate real-time prostate gland segmentation in MR images.
After pelvic radiotherapy, patients may live with low-grade chronic inflammation of the lower intestine 20 years after the treatment, a new study shows.
Combining ultrasound and MRI technology can help detect prostate cancer at an earlier stage and potentially save lives, according to new University of Dundee research.
The accuracy of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening can be improved by including genetic factors that cause changes in PSA levels not associated with cancer, according to a multi-center study.
Experts argue that shared decision policies between patients and their doctors have led to high rates of PSA testing and clear medical harm, with minimal benefit and inequity.
An advanced imaging method is showing promise as a way to improve the diagnosis of prostate cancer by giving clinicians a clearer view of suspected tumours during biopsy.
Researchers demonstrate a HoloLens AR system that enables accurate, flexible needle guidance for transperineal prostate interventions such as biopsy, focal laser ablation, and brachytherapy
Researchers have developed a new blood test to detect prostate cancer which displays greater accuracy than the current prostate-specific antigen (PSA) method.
In men recently diagnosed with intermediate or high-grade prostate cancer, PSMA PET/MRI can successfully determine whether their cancer is likely to return within two years of a prostatectomy.
A simple 'liquid biopsy' blood test could help guide the treatment of children with the cancer rhabdomyosarcoma, a new study reports.
Machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) have the potential to transform cancer treatment management worldwide. Their ability to rapidly analyse and integrate routinely acquired diverse data will improve the accuracy and effectiveness of precision medical treatments.
Researchers from the University of Bern and Inselspital provide an overview of the latest technologies in precision oncology. Translating these into clinical application is still a major challenge.
Clinical laboratories need to be proactive to attract transgender patients for testing and to ensure that they are comfortable with the services provided. This issue is of great importance to the American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC), which conducted a scientific session on transgender health at its recent annual meeting in Chicago.
Rapid technical advances in ultrasound and increasingly tight healthcare budgets call for a change in ultrasound practice, experts explained in a session at the ECR in Vienna. Two experts presented possible models for the next two decades.
A combination of digital pathology and quantitative biomarker analysis in the emerging concept of ‘smart’ cytology has a potential role in the detection and diagnosis of cancer.
In a pair of world firsts, scientists have 3D printed human testicular cells and identified promising early signs of sperm-producing capabilities.
UK researchers have found that a new type of ultrasound scan can diagnose most prostate cancer cases with good accuracy in a clinical trial involving 370 men.
A new risk calculator could reduce the number of unnecessary and invasive biopsies for prostate cancer.
The combination of a novel blood test and magnetic resonance imaging can reduce overdiagnosis of low-risk cancers as well as societal costs in prostate cancer screening, according to a new study.
Mark Nicholls reports from the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) virtual Festival, with four expert speakers discussing the role of liquid biopsy in cancer detection.
A team led by the University of Washington has developed a new, non-destructive method that images entire 3D biopsies instead of a slice. The 3D images provided more information than a 2D image — specifically, details about the tree-like structure of the glands throughout the tissue.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is changing our healthcare systems. It can help us detect diseases earlier, improve patient care and reduce healthcare costs. However, there is still a lack of trust, of rules and safety regulations and of broad data pools. How can we use AI successfully in healthcare systems and what role will it play in the future?
Researchers have found that regular blood tests can help detect whether prostate cancer patients have resistance to drugs treating the condition. The findings were presented at the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) virtual Festival.
Organised screening enabling early detection and treatment of prostate cancer can reduce death by an impressive 20%, based on 16 years of findings of over 160,000 men participating in the landmark European Randomised Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer (ERSPC).
Scientists have identified two subtypes of metastatic prostate cancer that respond differently to treatment.
The FDA authorized marketing of software to assist medical professionals who examine body tissues in the detection of areas that are suspicious for cancer as an adjunct to the review of digitally-scanned slide images from prostate biopsies.
Researchers at Karolinska Institutet recently reported that magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) could reduce overdiagnoses and thereby improve prostate cancer screening. Now, the same research group has published a study in The Lancet Oncology, which shows that the addition of a novel blood test, the Stockholm3 test, can reduce the number of MRIs performed by a third while further preventing the…
Final results from a study of a blood test that can detect more than 50 types of cancer have shown that it is accurate enough to be rolled out as a multi-cancer screening test among people at higher risk of the disease, including patients aged 50 years or older, without symptoms. In a paper published in the cancer journal Annals of Oncology, researchers report that the test accurately detected…
Researchers from the University of East Anglia have developed a new urine test for prostate cancer which also shows how aggressive the disease is.
Royal Philips and Ibex Medical Analytics announced a strategic collaboration to jointly promote their digital pathology and AI solutions to hospitals, health networks and pathology labs worldwide. The combination of Philips digital pathology solution (Philips IntelliSite Pathology Solution) and Ibex’s Galen AI-powered cancer diagnostics platform, currently in clinical use in Europe and the…
Tumour metabolism can be imaged with MRI as a technique to help determine cancer aggressiveness and response to therapy. The work by a UK-based group, on probing cancer metabolism non-invasively with clinical hyperpolarised carbon-13 MRI, can detect metabolic changes in the tumour. As metabolic changes occur much earlier than change in tumour size, this could have implications for quicker…
A new study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis demonstrates that a liquid biopsy examining blood or urine can help gauge the effectiveness of therapy for colorectal cancer that has just begun to spread beyond the original tumor. Such a biopsy can detect lingering disease and could serve as a guide for deciding whether a patient should undergo further treatments due to some…
Hybrid PET/CT imaging can fully play to its strengths and steer treatment towards more effective procedures for diagnosing prostate cancer. The examination of the specific antigen PSMA with hybrid PET imaging enables treatment monitoring with significantly higher diagnostic accuracy than conventional imaging and therefore, Professor Clemens Cyran believes, will soon become the standard diagnostic…
Prostate cancer is one of the most common cancers among men. Patients are determined to have prostate cancer primarily based on PSA, a cancer factor in blood. However, as diagnostic accuracy is as low as 30%, a considerable number of patients undergo additional invasive biopsy and thus suffer from resultant side effects, such as bleeding and pain.
A deep learning model to predict RNA-Seq expression of tumours from whole slide images was among the industry innovations outlined at the 7th Digital Pathology and AI Congress for Europe. Created by French-American start-up Owkin, the detail of how the company’s HE2RNA model provides virtual spatialization of gene expression was detailed to online delegates by senior translational scientist…
The advent of digital pathology is offering a unique opportunity to develop computerized image analysis methods to diagnose disease and predict outcomes for cancer patients from histopathology tissue sections. Such advances can help predict risk of recurrence, disease aggressiveness and long-term survival, according to a leading expert in the field, Professor Anant Madabhushi from Case Western…
Men die about five years earlier than women across the world. As initiatives to boost awareness of men’s health unfolded in November, an international project is bringing the forefront of AI research to tackle prostate cancer (PC), the second most frequent type of cancer in men and the third most lethal in Europe.
Pioneering research conducted by University of Virginia in collaboration with Manchester UK based APIS Assay Technologies Ltd has discovered Hormone-Upregulated lncRNA within the lymphocyte-specific protein tyrosine kinase (HULLK) is detectable in non-invasive prostate cancer patient samples.
New techniques of infrared-based technology are showing strong potential for cost-effective tissue analysis. Peter Gardner, Professor of Analytical and Biomedical Spectroscopy at the University of Manchester, outlined how hyperspectral imaging coupled with sophisticated computer algorithms can identify and grade cancerous tissue, as well as offer an indication of prognosis. The technique, he…
The AI-Rad Companion family supports radiologists, radiation oncologists, radiotherapists and medical physicists through automated post processing of MRI, CT and X-ray datasets. It saves the clinicians' time and helps them to increase their diagnostic precision.
Luis Martí-Bonmatí, Director of the Medical Imaging Department at La Fe Hospital in Valencia, highlighted the need to assess utility when developing AI tools during ECR 2020. Artificial intelligence (AI) can impact and improve many aspects of clinical practice. But current expectations are too great and need to be toned down by looking at opportunities.
Former ESR President Katrine Riklund will explore the clinical applications of hybrid imaging in a virtual session for the European Congress of Radiology 2020. She will discuss a number of common indications of hybrid imaging in areas of oncological diagnosis, the indications and limitations of hybrid imaging in common diseases, and the added value of hybrid imaging. “The major benefit of…
A new study sheds light on proteins in particles called extracellular vesicles, which are released by tumor cells into the bloodstream and promote the spread of cancer. The findings suggest how a blood test involving these vesicles might be used to diagnose cancer in the future, avoiding the need for invasive surgical biopsies.
Tissue biopsy slides stained using hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) dyes are a cornerstone of histopathology, especially for pathologists needing to diagnose and determine the stage of cancers. A research team led by MIT scientists at the Media Lab, in collaboration with clinicians at Stanford University School of Medicine and Harvard Medical School, now shows that digital scans of these biopsy…
Unnecessary prostate cancer biopsies could be reduced by 60 per cent thanks to new research from the University of East Anglia (UEA). Researchers have developed new methods to identify biomarkers for prostate cancer by combining information from multiple parts of urine samples. It is hoped that the breakthrough could help large numbers of men avoid an unnecessary initial biopsy.
Liquid biopsy offers a new dimension to detection and stratification of cancer – yet the technique also faces hurdles in becoming a mainstream diagnostic approach for more personalised treatments. A critical challenge lies in identifying the extremely low concentrations of the bio-analytes of CTC (circulating tumour cells), ctDNA (circulating tumour DNA) and exosomes in the blood.
A team of researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) has discovered a new personalised tool to detect cancer, predict patient survivability and how well a cancer patient would respond to immunotherapy. This tool is a specially-designed cancer 'scorecard' to be used with the standard blood test for cancer (also known as liquid biopsy). This 'scorecard', which the team termed as…
Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have developed a method based on artificial intelligence for histopathological diagnosis and grading of prostate cancer. The AI-system has the potential to solve one of the bottlenecks in today’s prostate cancer histopathology by providing more accurate diagnosis and better treatment decisions. The study, presented in The Lancet Oncology, shows that the…
Prostate cancer is the second cause of cancer-related death in men. Currently, its diagnosis occurs via imaging and must be confirmed by biopsy. Simona Turco from the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) wants to improve prostate cancer diagnosis by using machine learning algorithms to localize tumors and thereby replace entirely the necessity for biopsies. Besides, by combining this with…
The first use of a robot-supported surgical intervention was reported in 1985, when the robot arm PUMA 560 placed a needle for a cerebral biopsy using CT guidance. Since then, strong growth in the market for robotic surgery has occurred, due to an increasing automation demand in the healthcare as a whole and greater concentration on minimally invasive surgery (MIS) for faster recovery.…
Pathology is embracing digitisation just as radiology did over 20 years ago and both specialties are looking at new ways to integrate each other in their workflows. AI could fuel this sparkling alliance, giving it further means to improve cancer treatment.
Using MRI scans to target biopsies is more effective at detecting prostate cancers that are likely to need treatment than standard ultrasound guided biopsies alone, according to research published in JAMA Network Open. The research, led by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and Universities of Bristol, Ottawa, Exeter and Oxford, combined the results from seven studies covering…
A new study has begun to test whether broccoli and garlic can help improve prostate health. The Norfolk Accumulation of Dietary Bioactives and Prostate Cancer (ADaPt) study has been launched by researchers at Quadram Institute Bioscience (QIB) and the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital (NNUH). The study, which will take place at the NNUH-run Clinical Research Facility at the Quadram…
The key challenges and opportunities surrounding High-Content Screening have been outlined in a presentation to leading scientists and technologists at a major lab conference. Speaking at the recent SLASEurope 2019 event in Barcelona, Professor Matthias Nees from the Institute of Biomedicine in the Department of Biology at the University of Turku, Finland, outlined the potential of High-Content…
In view of the advent of personalised medicine and holistic therapy many experts predict the end of healthcare as we know it. However, in many places it is ‘healthcare business as usual’. In our interview, Dr Christoph Zindel, President Diagnostic Imaging at Siemens Healthineers, explains where he sees radiology bridging the gap between symptom-centred treatment today and the systemic…
Pathologists, radiologists, urologists and radiotherapy specialists sit at the core of the treatment pathway for the patient, working together as a cohesive unit. In an innovative 2019 ECR session in Vienna, the prostate unit from Ghent University Hospital in Belgium outlined how the team works to deliver the best clinical outcome for patients.
A quick and easy test to detect cancer from blood or biopsy tissue could eventually result in a new approach to patient diagnosis. The test has been developed by University of Queensland researchers Dr Abu Sina, Dr Laura Carrascosa and Professor Matt Trau, who have discovered a unique DNA nanostructure that appears to be common to all cancers. Cancer is an extremely complicated and variable…
New medical software which overlays tumour information from MRI scans onto ultrasound images is helping to improve detection of prostate cancer by guiding surgeons as they conduct biopsies. Developed at University College London (UCL), the software is deployed via a system called SmartTarget and embraces artificial intelligence (AI) to use both systems in tandem to enable surgeons to pick up…
Contrast enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) has proved in trials to be more accurate than computed tomography and MRI and can help eliminate the need for unnecessary biopsies and surgery. Dr Richard Barr, Professor of Radiology at Northeast Ohio Medical University, explains the benefits of the modality.
Liquid biopsies can increasingly help diagnose and monitor breast cancer, and tracking circulating tumour cells (CTC) in metastatic patients could prove effective in these applications and treatment planning. Efforts are currently underway to demonstrate CTC clinical use and much can be learned from completed studies in prostate cancer, speaker Michail Ignatiadis MD PhD highlighted in a dedicated…
Two blood tests can predict which subset of men with advanced prostate cancer will likely not benefit from anti-androgen therapies, providing doctors and patient added clarity on treatment options, according to a study led by Duke Cancer Institute.
Menarini Silicon Biosystems announced that a new study has found that using circulating tumor cells (CTCs), a form of liquid biopsy, holds promise as a key tool for developing a staging system that can have a significant impact in the treatment of metastatic breast cancer (MBC). In this study, the largest CTCs pooled analysis study to date, researchers determined that the CTC count could be used…
ProteoMediX AG announced results from a retrospective study that showed the correlation of its prostate cancer diagnosis test with cancer aggressiveness in patients scheduled for prostate biopsies. The study findings presented at the 2018 European Association of Urology (EAU) congress in Copenhagen, Denmark showed that the test has the potential to avoid a large number of biopsies. “Correlation…
One of the biggest challenges in treating prostate cancer is distinguishing men who have aggressive and potentially lethal disease from men whose cancer is slow-growing and unlikely to metastasize. For years, prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level, cancer grade and tumor stage have been used to sort prostate cancer patients into risk groups established by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network.…
Cancer surgeons perform an estimated 1.7 breast biopsies each year, according to the American Association of Preferred Provider Organizations. This makes the procedure a significant proportion of cases referred to anatomic pathologists. This surgery, however, is time-consuming and not always accurate due to shortcomings in existing surgical technology and to human error. Now, a 3D-printed…
Lars Schimmöller MD, associate professor of radiology at Düsseldorf University Hospital, tackled current diagnosis of prostate cancer (PCa) and addressed tumour detection, staging, active surveillance and recurrence during the Medica Academy session on Imaging Update. He also highlighted how MRI helps improve biopsies and avoid unnecessary surgery in PCa.
A study published in Prostate Cancer and Prostatic Diseases demonstrated that physicians elected to perform fewer biopsies when Prostate Health Index (phi) testing was included in their overall, routine, clinical assessment. Phi testing is recommended for men presenting with elevated serum total prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in the 4-10 ng/mL range and a non-suspicious digital rectal exam…
A practicing radiologist specialising in ultrasound, Pavlos Zoumpoulis MD PhD is also President and CEO of Diagnostic Echotomography, a day clinic based in Kifissia, Greece. The past President of the Hellenic Society of Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology spoke with our European Hospital team about his experiences with the next-generation in shear wave elastography on Mindray’s Resona 7 platform.
‘Ultrasound imaging is an attractive non-ionising medical imaging tool. It’s safe, free of side effects and offers an unmatched real-time imaging capability,’ interventional radiologist Professor Giancarlo Bizzarri underlines during our EH interview.
As the demand for imaging studies booms and digital pathology takes off, it is becoming necessary to look at the interactions between radiology and pathology in telemedicine, an expert explained during the Radiology Triangle Madrid meeting early this year.
NEW: Evolution 3.0 EPIQ ultrasound upgrade offers high-res PureWave crystal transducer technology, shear wave elastography, contrast enhanced ultrasound, and image fusion. Could you ask for more?
Bladder cancer (BC) is the most common malignancy involving the urinary system and the ninth most common malignancy worldwide.
New research confirms that an innovative procedure combining MRI and ultrasound to create a 3D image of the prostate can more accurately locate suspicious areas and help diagnose whether it’s prostate cancer.
Changes in the genetic make-up of tissue samples can be detected quickly and easily using a new method based on nanotechnology. This report researchers from the Swiss Nanoscience Institute, the University of Basel and the University Hospital Basel in first clinical tests with genetic mutations in patients with malignant melanoma.
From the beginning of MRI scientists dreamed of not only translating data sets into images, but also classifying tissue directly. Five years ago this would still have been inconceivable.
IBM scientists have developed a new lab-on-a-chip technology that can, for the first time, separate biological particles at the nanoscale and could enable physicians to detect diseases such as cancer before symptoms appear.
While active surveillance is often recommended for patients with nonaggressive prostate cancer to reduce unnecessary treatment, the challenge for clinicians is to monitor and distinguish early-stage tumors from advanced cancers. A team of scientists led by researchers from Roswell Park Cancer Institute have demonstrated that photoacoustic imaging (PAI) may be an effective tool for more accurately…
Prostate cancer patients may soon have a new option to treat their disease: laser heat. UCLA researchers have found that focal laser ablation – the precise application of heat via laser to a tumor – is both feasible and safe in men with intermediate risk prostate cancer.
‘The combination of nuclear medicine and modern imaging procedures such as CT and MRI is becoming increasingly important in the diagnosis, treatment planning and aftercare of cancerous diseases,’ explains Professor Katrine Åhlström Riklund, who presides over the newly established European Society for Hybrid Medical Imaging, ESHI.
Ultrasound biopsy is rather unreliable to detect or exclude prostate cancer: many tumours are difficult – or impossible – to visualise sonographically and tissue sampling is haphazard rather than targeted.
The prostate remains the only organ where random biopsies are performed to find cancer, notes Jean-Michel Correas MD PhD, from the Necker University Hospital in Paris. If we proposed this approach to a woman to search for breast cancer, it would be outrageous, he said.
Living in a small Mediterranean island has its own advantages; nevertheless there are certain limitations. In healthcare, for example, resources may be somewhat more limited in such a small country and some of the latest technologies may not always be available to patients.
A research team from the University of Liverpool has reached an important milestone towards creating a urine diagnostic test for prostate cancer that could mean that invasive diagnostic procedures that men currently undergo eventually become a thing of the past.
Harms of screening are certain, but benefits in overall mortality are not … “We must be honest about this uncertainty,” experts say. Cancer screening has never been shown to “save lives” as advocates claim, argue experts in The BMJ.
Results from a long-term clinical trial conducted by cancer researchers at Houston Methodist Hospital show that combining radiation treatment with "suicide gene therapy," a technique in which prostate cancer cells are genetically modified so they signal a patient's immune system to attack them, provides a safe and effective one-two punch against the disease.
In mid-2015 the second generation of the ultrasound system H60 and the Urostation Touch was launched. At the Urology Department of the Hospital Fürth in Fürth, Germany the H60 and Urostation Touch are already being successfully used with 4 to 5 patients a week for prostate diagnostics.
One in six men will develop prostate cancer. It is the second leading cause of cancer death amongst men in both the US and the EU. Definite diagnosis at an early stage is vital for survival and early treatment minimizes the risk of adverse effects, such as incontinence, erectile dysfunction, or impotence. While there is no preventive screening there is a ray of hope. Prof. Jelle Barentsz,…
Pathology is the gold standard of prostate diagnostics. Whilst the radiologist makes interpretations based on shadows and grey scale values visible on an image, the pathologist has the ‘fait accompli’ under the microscope. Professor Glen Kristiansen, Director at the Institute for Pathology at the University Hospital Bonn, explains why image-guided biopsies also make sense from the…
What you see is what you get - unfortunately, this doesn’t always apply in cancer imaging. Why is it that something which looks conspicuous on an image later turns out not to be a tumour? Why, on the other hand, are things overlooked that later turn out to be cancer? Pathological findings are extremely important to help improve diagnostic precision in radiology. Both disciplines therefore…
The vast amounts of data accumulating in breast diagnostics require new methods to extract clinical information in a practical way. When dealing with large amounts of data that is too big or too complex to be analysed with traditional data processing applications, the talk today is of ‘Big Data’. The data volume accumulating in breast diagnostics has become increasingly complex over recent…
A screening method that combines a traditional PSA test with an MRI detects a significantly greater number of prostate cancer cases and improves diagnostic accuracy. The study was conducted as part of the largest international research project on prostate cancer. The method will now be tried with 40,000 subjects in Gothenburg.
Professor Hedvig Hricak MD PhD, Chair of the Department of Radiology at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre, New York, and Professor of Radiology at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, is a notable expert on crosssectional anatomic and molecular imaging, particularly of gynaecologic and prostate cancers. EH interviewed her about the potential and impact of more precise viewing of inter-…
Spring can be felt, though many visitors of ECR 2015 probably only have time to enjoy the floral decorations in the conference center. The program of the conference is packed full of topics that promise exciting days and many discussions.
It sounds amazingly simple: a structured medical Seldinger guidewire is inserted via a peripheral venous catheter to ‘fish’ for circulating tumour cells (CTC) in the blood of cancer patients. Report: Bettina Döbereiner
‘The new Aplio improves the existing functionalities of the high-end systems, dramatically enhances image quality, increases diagnostic confidence and further streamlines workflow,’ the manufacturer reports.
Prostate cancer is the most common cancerous disease in men. Since magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) arrived the diagnostic capabilities for early detection have improved considerably, along with more selective prostate cancer treatment.
Widely considered a safe procedure for targeted tissue sampling, the fusion of MR and ultrasound images for prostate biopsy purposes is quickly gaining ground among radiologists.
Adding high quality, dynamic ultrasound for hybrid imaging enables clinicians to improve detection of a range of lesions or to intervene better for improved clinical outcomes. ‘We can no longer be fascinated with pictures; what we need is proof of the clinical benefit from tools and techniques,’ said Professor Jose Zamorano MD, Director of Cardiology at Ramón y Cajal University Hospital in…
Use of ultrasound for guidance is gaining ground, researchers explained during the 4th IPCAI, the International Conference on Information Processing in Computer-Assisted Interventions held during CARS 2013 in Heidelberg.
Statistically speaking every fourth older German man suffers from prostate cancer with the mortality rate being 60,000 patients annually
Israel - Researchers are using breath-test technology to detect volatile organic compounds to tell whether a patient has stomach cancer.
At ECR 2013 Hitachi Medical Systems Europe will for the first time in Europe be showcasing Noblus, an advanced versatile and compact ultrasound platform.
Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of death among men yet remains one of the most frustrating for physicians to find and treat. Merging the strengths of imaging modalities helps, but does not solve all the problems, says John Brosky
Dr Peter Choyke, Chief of the Molecular Imaging Programme at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, USA, believes that new tracers will have an evolving role to play and represent an exciting development in the imaging of cancers.
Enormous technical developments over recent decades, along with greater understanding of tumour biology, have made imaging, pathology and laboratory medicine indispensable tools in personalised cancer treatments.
The multinational, multicentre Breast Elastography 1 (BE1) study – launched in April 2008 and led by Professor David Cosgrove of Imperial College of Medicine, London – has shown the clinical benefits of ShearWave Elastography in ultrasonic diagnoses of breast lesions.
A team of researchers at Rigshospitalet has found a new and simple way of detecting testicular cancer before it starts. This discovery will benefit patients in both Denmark and abroad.
Three radiologists, who focused on different clinical applications using different diagnostic techniques, have reached the same conclusion: the next-generation of ultrasound brings new capabilities for detection, differentiation and advanced diagnosis of disease, John Brosky reports.
Radiology and European Radiology Journals Report High Reproducibility and Significant Improvement of Breast Ultrasound Specificity. The much anticipated results of the largest clinical breast study ever sponsored by an ultrasound manufacturer have recently been published in the prestigious peer reviewed Radiology and European Radiology medical journals.
Detecting prostate cancer with transrectal ultrasound using strain elastography is quite tricky: it works by applying pressure to the transducer to measure relative stiffness of tissue, Professor Correas points out and states that ‘more than 80 percent of prostate cancer develops in the peripheral zone which is against the rectal wall. If we apply pressure to this zone the deformation of the…
A new urine test can help aid early detection of and treatment decisions about prostate cancer, a study from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Michigan Center for Translational Pathology finds.
During the IFCC and EuroMedLab congress in Berlin, Beckmann Coulter launched into Europe its AU 5800, which, the firm reports, improves processing time compared to current systems and therefore meets the demands of ever faster workflow in clinical laboratories.
HI-RTE allows the assessment and real-time colour display of tissue elasticity. The current generation ultrasound modality has proven applications in breast, prostate, thyroid and pancreatic disease and where diagnostic biopsy is indicated, HI-RTE allows more accurate localization and targeting of lesions.
The role of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in prostate cancer detection continued to command attention at during the annual congress of the European Association of Urology (EAU) in March.
Prostate cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in males in developed countries and the sixth leading cause of cancer death worldwide. One reason for the increase in diagnosis is the widespread uptake of the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test, capable of detecting slow growing cancers that might otherwise go undetected.
Prostate cancer is the 2nd leading cause of cancer death in men. It is also the most common diagnosed malignancy in men with near 190.000 new cases in the USA in 2008. Despite the larger use of biological tests (such as prostate specific antigen (PSA)) and imaging modalities (trans-rectal ultrasonography (TRUS) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)), there is a slight increase in the annual death…
In 2005, when they founded the French ultrasound company SuperSonic Imagine, Jacques Souquet PhD and Claude Cohen-Bacrie had to convince radiologists that they not only offered a new product but also a completely new ultrasound technology that could measure entirely new parameters.
Sonography is a jack-of-all-medical-trades. Unlike magnetic resonance imaging or computed tomography it does not require radiation and it is not performed by a radiologist but by the experts in the individual clinical disciplines. Technical progress has turned sonography into much more than the “stethoscope of the 21st century” – a sophisticated imaging modality that requires special…
The effectiveness of PSA (prostate-specific antigen) screening on reducing prostate cancer mortality was given a boost in 2009 when the conclusive findings from the 10-year European Randomized Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer (ERSPC) -- the world’s largest prostate cancer screening study – were published.
Physicians, over many centuries, have depended on the sense of touch as their hands on method to detect diseases in many body areas. This technique is called palpation. However, though it was known that abnormalities in the stiffness or mechanical environment in tissue may have a profound impact on how many diseases progress, conventional imaging modalities could not display tissue stiffness in…
In recent years Hitachi Medical, the pioneer in developing ultrasound elastography to diagnose tissue stiffness, has seen competing systems launched that claim to have the same capability. ‘We are approaching a point where elastography will be considered a standard feature, call it the E-mode, for ultrasound,’ Heinz Schreiber, head of Ultrasound for Hitachi Medical Systems Europe told…
French expert Dr Jacques Souquet PhD, President of SuperSonic Imagine, describes the value and potential of ShearWave elastography, the latest development in ultrasound that enables radiologists to acquire user independent information about tissue stiffness by measuring both, ultrasound and shear waves.
Emphasising the crucial partnership of radiologists and urologists in the treatment of prostate cancer, Professor Arnulf Stenzl, Medical Director of Urology at the Tübingen University Hospital, explained that, throughout the phases of prostate cancer diagnosis and therapy - from primary diagnosis onward - imaging is indispensable.
Tissue removal is currently the only way to verify suspicious lesions in the prostate. It is also a key requirement before treating prostate carcinomas. The standard biopsy is performed with transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) to guide the needle in the right direction.
To date, there is insufficient knowledge as to the cause of this disease, or how to prevent it. We asked some of our EH correspondents to report on measures taken in their countries to ensure that men are made more aware of this disease and whether screening services are provided for early prostate cancer detection.
17-21 March Stockholm Sweden
The number of prostate cancer cases is increasing rapidly.
We asked some of our EH correspondents to report on measures taken in their countries to ensure that men are made more aware of this disease and whether screening services are provided for early prostate cancer detection.
Big discussions are expected at the upcoming European Association of Urology (EAU) Congress in Stockholm* when urologist Dr Jochen Walz (right), of the Urological Department at the Institute Paoli-Calmettes, Marseilles, France, presents the forum: Imaging in Europe: Who, where, what, how many! and M F Coelho, of the European Society of Urological Imaging (ESUI) describes the Clinical utility of…
Current procedures are still imprecise and speculative; without a subsequent biopsy suspicious PSA levels, images and the results of palpation cannot be correctly evaluated. Thus there is an energetic pursuit to discover new imaging technologies. Dr Thilo Eggert at the Urological Clinic of the Ruhr University Bochum at the Marienhopital Herne, is among the investigators.
Electroporation is going to widen the spectrum of cancer treatment in the future. While other tumour ablation techniques like cyroablation, radiofrequency ablation and microwave ablation work with intense heat or cold to kill cancer cells, irreversible electroporation (IRE) uses electric pulses allowing minimal collatoral damage to surrounding tissue. First clinical applications have already…
Radiologists are paying increasing attention to ultrasound real time tissue elastography (HI-RTE). Earlier this year, at their annual meeting, the Austrian, Swiss and German Ultrasound Societies (ÖGUM, SGUM, DEGUM), highlighted the effectiveness of the method in differentiating soft from stiff tissue, i.e. healthy areas from tumours, a key differentiation in breast cancer diagnosis.
Sonoelastography, a procedure that measures the elasticity of tissue and differentiates between healthy and hardened pathological tissue, will make cancer diagnosis safer in the future. For example, it has been shown to improve the accuracy of prostate cancer diagnosis by 20%.
Siemens Healthcare is showing a very innovative application on the new ACUSON S2000 ultrasound system. “The software packages Virtual Touch tissue imaging and Virtual Touch tissue quantification represent the clinical realisation of a method, previously known as Acoustic Radiation Force Impulse (ARFI) technology”, the firm explains.
The French firm bioMérieux and ProteoSys, based in Mainz, Germany, have signed a license and development agreement for Annexin 3 to be used to develop a urine-based, confirmatory diagnostic test for prostate cancer.
Early suspicions of cancer, either from clinical evidence or medical imaging, are often followed up on biopsy. However, the removal of tissue for histological analysis can be uncomfortable for patients.
Currently, early detection of Prostate Cancer depends on an abnormal digital rectal examination and an elevated prostate-specific-antigen (PSA) level requiring a prostate biopsy, often associated with anxiety, discomfort, complications, and heavy expenses. The prostate-cancer-gene-3 (PCA3) test is a new PCa gene-based marker carried out with a urine sample.
Martini Clinic, in the University Hospital Eppendorf (UKE) campus in Hamburg, is one of the world's major centres for nerve-sparing prostatectomy. The Martini physicians not only specialise in surgical intervention but are also at the cutting edge of diagnostics, being among the few in Germany to use sono-elastography, an innovative tool to detect prostate cancer. We asked Dr Georg Salomon (GS),…
Experts on a US panel expressed their doubts on the beneficial quality of prostate cancer screenings for elderly men. Prostate cancer often grows very slowly and may not kill an older man before he suffers from another death reason, they pointed out.
With the help of an engineered common cold virus spreadings of prostate cancer in the pelvic lymph nodes can be visualised with a PET scanner. It is now possible to treat the cancer in an early stage. But the developers of the virus from UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center see a chance to even use it as a treatment option.
An intraoperative MRI system being developed by UK firm Specialty Magnetics could speed the treatment of breast-cancer patients. The company is working on a dedicated intraoperative MR breast scanner that will enable doctors to carry out image-guided treatments as soon as disease is detected and diagnosed.
Nearly 14 000 urologists from 84 countries attended the 23rd Annual congress of the European Association of Urology held in Milan, where changing horizons in the diagnosis and therapy of prostate cancer, a symposium sponsored by Ipsen, underlined the main focus of the entire event.
Today, Real-time Tissue Elastography (HI-RTE) provides a method to determine tissue elasticity of certain organs, such as the prostate, in real-time and to perform precise biopsies for reliable tumour diagnosis during standard examinations.
Advances in prostate cancer imaging spark hopes for better therapies. Meike Lerner asked Professor Hartmut Huland, Medical Director of Martini-Klinik in Hamburg, and pioneer of the nerve-preserving prostatectomy method, currently the gold standard in prostate cancer therapy, about his technique and whether the optimism regarding imaging is justified or misplaced
USA - MRI is playing an increasingly important role in breast cancer screening in the US, especially in the screening of high risk patients. It has proven to be more sensitive than mammography examinations, but is less accurate in the differentiation between benign and malignant lesions.
Prostate cancer (PCa) is not only one of the most common, but also one of the deadliest types of cancer in men. Diagnostics are correspondingly sophisticated, from imaging via ultrasound or MRI to various biopsy techniques – often even in combination. Keep reading for current developments in early detection, staging, therapy and research.