Pen-like tool can spot cancer cells `in seconds'

One of the biggest worries for patients undergoing cancer surgery is whether surgeons will

miss some of the diseased tissue. That worry could be over with a new pencil-sized tool

developed by scientists and engineers at the University of Texas at Austin, according to a

study published on Wednesday.

The tool, dubbed the MasSpec Pen, allows surgeons removing a tumor to detect cancerous

cells in tissues in seconds, allowing them to know immediately if they have found and

removed all of the cancer.

Currently , it can take days to determine if the surgeons got everything. What they miss

could lead to a return of the cancer. The study in `Science Translational Medicine' said when

the pen is touched to a tissue during surgery , it draws up small molecules to be analysed by a

miniaturised mass spectrometer built inside the stylus. The pen can identify cancerous cells

through distinct molecules called metabolites. That identifies any residual cancer, with a

monitor linked to the pen declaring “normal“ or “cancer“. Tests on tissues removed from 253

human cancer patients showed the new tool was “more than 96% accurate“, according to the

study.

Source: The Times of India