Purdue technology used in first fluorescence-guided ovarian cancer surgery

Article published September 18, 2011 by Purdue University

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The first fluorescence-guided surgery on an ovarian cancer patient was performed using a cancer cell “homing device” and imaging agent created by a Purdue University researcher.

The surgery was one of 10 performed as part of the first phase of a clinical trial to evaluate a new technology to aid surgeons in the removal of malignant tissue from ovarian cancer patients. The method illuminates cancer cells to help surgeons identify and remove smaller tumors that could otherwise be missed.

Philip Low, the Ralph C. Corely Distinguished Professor of Chemistry who invented the technology, said surgeons were able to see clusters of cancer cells as small as one-tenth of a millimeter, as opposed to the earlier average minimal cluster size of 3 millimeters in diameter based on current methods of visual and tactile detection.

“Ovarian cancer is notoriously difficult to see, and this technique allowed surgeons to spot a tumor 30 times smaller than the smallest they could detect using standard techniques,” said Low, who also is a member of the Purdue University Center for Cancer Research. “By dramatically improving the detection of the cancer – by literally lighting it up – cancer removal is dramatically improved.”

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