MIT’s Koch Institute wins STAT Madness with technology to see tiny ovarian tumors

When I attended a symposium in Boston on Ovarian Cancer several years ago, I was struck by potential ways to help surgeons recognize microscopic oc cells that involved using florescent materials that would, under infared, light up. WOW!

Well thank you Betsy for sending me this article about just this thing. "These probes find ovarian cancer cells by piggybacking on bacteriophages genetically engineered to latch onto a specific protein found in abundance on these invasive cancer cells. Their fluorescence in low wavelengths is boosted by infrared light to show the anatomy — organs and tissues where the tumors are lurking. And a third light source illuminates it all for the surgeon, who is guided by a software-enabled display on a monitor."

The MIT team is in talks w/the FDA for a small, phase I trial in women. To read more about this amazing research, follow this link.