Diagnostics

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News • BRIM

Technology helps ID aggressive early breast cancer

When a woman is diagnosed with the earliest stage of breast cancer, how aggressive should her treatment be? Will the non-invasive cancer become invasive? Or is it a slow-growing variety that will likely never be harmful? Researchers at the University of Michigan developed a new technology that can identify aggressive forms of ductal carcinoma in situ, or stage 0 breast cancer, from non-aggressive…

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News • Breast cancer

Artificial intelligence diagnoses with high accuracy

Pathologists have been largely diagnosing disease the same way for the past 100 years, by manually reviewing images under a microscope. But new work suggests that computers can help doctors improve accuracy and significantly change the way cancer and other diseases are diagnosed. A research team from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and Harvard Medical School (HMS) recently developed…

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Article • Disaster areas

Winners on the firing line

Jens Hahn MD is an Internal Medicine and Intensive Care Specialist who works with the international, independent, medical humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF in English: Doctors Without Borders). Here he describes his work in Afghanistan and South Sudan, and the use of rapid diagnostic tests in the field.

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News • Dividing T cells

Target for improving cancer immunotherapy

When an immune T cell divides into two daughter cells, the activity of an enzyme called mTORC1, which controls protein production, splits unevenly between the progeny, producing two cells with different properties. Such "asymmetric division," uncovered by Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center researchers using lab-grown cells and specially bred mice, could offer new ways to enhance cancer…

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News • Individual treatment

Molecular sub-groups in early stages of bladder cancer

Bladder cancer is a frequent disease affecting approximately 1,900 persons in Denmark annually. A high number of these patients only have superficial tumours in the bladder when the disease is diagnosed. For many years, this patient group will be examined frequently and during this time many get new tumours; some cases develop aggressively making it necessary to remove the bladder or receive…

News • Politics

Liquid biopsy test from Roche gets FDA approval

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the cobas EGFR Mutation Test v2, a blood-based companion diagnostic for the cancer drug Tarceva (erlotinib). This is the first FDA-approved, blood-based genetic test that can detect epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene mutations in non-small cell lung cancer patients. Such mutations are present in approximately 10-20 percent of non-small cell…

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More light on cancer

The group of Russian and French researchers, with the participation of scientists from the Lomonosov Moscow State University, has succeeded to synthesize nanoparticles of ultrapure silicon, which exhibited the property of efficient photoluminescence, i.e., secondary light emission after photoexcitation. These particles were able to easily penetrate into cancer cells and it allowed to use them as…

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News • GLINT project

Using sugar to detect cancer: a game changer for cancer screening

Cancer accounts for 13 percent of all deaths worldwide and despite recent medical improvements remains one of the most deadly diseases in the world. Early detection, usually through advanced medical imaging, is crucial as it increases the chances of survival and the potential for full recovery. The EU-funded project GlucoCEST Imaging of Neoplastic Tumours (GLINT) will develop an innovative…

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Article • Digitisation

Pathology departs from a dark back room

A UK-based neuropathologist has highlighted how the digitisation of pathology will play a pivotal role in taking patient care on to a new and more efficient level. Speaking in a recent Webinar under the heading The Adoption and Benefits of Digital Pathology for Primary Diagnosis, Dr Daniel du Plessis also noted how the digital era would raise the profile of pathology and ‘bring it out of the…

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News • Endoscopy

Combining digital and optical imaging - the video processor from Pentax

Pentax Medical launches a world first for endoscopy, the OPTIVISTA EPK-i7010 Video Processor, featuring both digital and optical enhancements, in the European, Middle Eastern & African (EMEA) markets. This unique enhancement combination provides detailed information for more accurate endoscopic in vivo diagnosis through improved vessel and mucosal pattern characterization.

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Article • Evaluation

Calculated therapy is the objective

At a recent focus meeting held in Berlin by the Association of Accredited Laboratories in Medicine, Dr Andreas Weimann, managing director at the Laboratory Berlin – Charité Vivantes Services, spoke of the challenges that laboratories working with hospitals face due to the management of pathogens and the diagnosis of infections.

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News • Inflammatory bowel disease

International consensus report highlights need for improved management of CDI

Results from an international consensus project involving a multidisciplinary group of clinicians have been presented today at 26th European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) 2016. A current lack of data on outcomes in patients with IBD who have CDI means that appropriate choice of treatment strategy can be unclear. The consensus examines the issues impacting…

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News • Software

Diagnosing ear infection using smartphone

Researchers at Umeå University in Sweden have developed a method that simplifies the diagnosis of ear infections (otitis media), something which annually affects half a billion children worldwide. The software-based method automatically analyses images from a digital otoscope and enables highly accurate diagnoses. The method is described in the journal EBioMedicine.

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News • Rapid testing

West Africa, Ebola and the threat of Zika

Rapid testing for the Zika virus is a critical need in the recent Ebola-affected countries of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, says a Georgetown University professor, because of the recent Zika outbreak on nearby Cape Verde and the similarity in symptoms between Zika and early Ebola.

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News • Research

A pill could improve breast cancer diagnoses

The ongoing debate about breast cancer diagnostics has left many women confused — particularly over what age they should get mammograms and who needs treatment. An issue with current methods is that they often identify lumps but cannot conclusively pinpoint which ones are cancerous. To help resolve this uncertainty, researchers have developed a pill that could improve imaging techniques so that…

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News • Seismic for the spine

Vibration technology offers alternative to MRI

Magnetic resonance image isn't everything. A new University of Alberta study shows that vibrating the spine may reveal more when it comes to treating back pain. Teaming with the University of South Denmark to study the lumbar spine of twins, Greg Kawchuk and his team demonstrate that structural changes within the spine alter its vibration response significantly.

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