Scientists have discovered a new technique that can predict whether treatment for brain cancer is wo...
Scientists have discovered a new technique that can predict whether treatment for brain cancer is working weeks earlier than is currently possible.
According to a report in the British Journal of Cancer, the technique - nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) - can predict at an early stage how certain brain tumours respond to the chemotherapy drug temozolomide.
"We set out to see if we could use NMR to monitor the effect of temozolomide on tumours in people. Excitingly, we were able to identify chemical changes using the machine, which were early indicators that the drug was working," said the study's author Dr Andrzej Dzik-Jurasz.
The NMR machine can be used to measure the amount of molecule called chlorine in brain tumours. The presence of chlorine can indicate that cells are dividing and the tumour is growing.
If the amount of chlorine changes during anti-cancer treatment, it can indicate that the drug is having an effect on the tumour.
Fellow author of the report, professor Martin Leach, said: "NMR could help doctors to identify different types of gliomas and learn about their interactions with drugs by looking directly at cancer cell behaviour. They could then predict which tumour types are likely to respond to treatments before giving them to patients."
It is hoped that the NMR machine will help target the best treatments for patients, helping doctors to decide which patients are most likely to benefit from them.
