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Novel Tumor Analysis Technology Made Earlier Diagnoses, Predicted Prognoses of Bowel Cancers
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A novel imaging technology that analyzes tumor texture enabled earlier diagnosis compared with other tumor markers in patients with bowel cancer who did not respond to cancer therapy, and predicted prognosis, according to a press release.
“By using TexRAD to scan for subtle anomalies in a tumor's texture, researchers have been able to spot more quickly when treatments are — or are not — working and adjust treatment accordingly,” Balaji Ganeshan, PhD, BSc, University of Sussex and TexRAD ressearcher said in the release. “And because TexRAD simply provides an additional layer of software analysis of the MRI and CT scans that already exist as part of routine clinical practice, it is non-invasive from the patient’s point of view and potentially cost-effective to the health care provider.”
TexRAD is currently being tested at research institutions and university hospitals around the world, but efficacy has already been demonstrated in recent trials, the release said, two of which were performed in the United Kingdom and collectively analyzed tumors of 155 patients with bowel cancer. In one trial, researchers from University College London Hospitals analyzed baseline PET-CT scans, followed patients for a mean of 3 years and found that the baseline tumor texture analysis enabled accurate prediction of patient survival. In another trial at Colchester General Hospital, researchers evaluated MR scans at baseline and 6 weeks after chemotherapy and radiotherapy, and found that patients with less heterogeneous tumor texture at the end of the study period had greater likelihood of longer survival.
“The identification of new, accurate imaging biomarkers such as TexRAD analysis of MR images for early assessment of first-line cancer therapy response (predominantly to shrink the tumor before the main treatment) could be helpful in refining bowel cancer patient management, providing a better targeting or preoperative therapy,” Andrea Laghi, MD, professor of radiology at the University of Rome, and researcher involved with another TexRAD trial, said in the release.
These trial results will be presented at the Radiological Society of North America annual scientific meeting in Chicago, the release said.