On Wednesday, researchers concluded that a new method of extracting lung cancer cells from blood samples can determine in real-time whether treatments are effective. 

In Massachusetts, doctors removed cancer cells from patients with non-small cell lung cancers that had spread to the bloodstream.  The researchers discovered that fluctuations in the concentration of cancer cells in the blood reflect how well current therapy is working.  Furthermore, the cancer samples also helped the doctors monitor changes in the genetic composition of the malignant tumors. 

This new ability to track cancer in the blood allows doctors to administer individualized therapy plans to patients.  They can quickly assess the content and make-up of a single patient's tumor and then establish a treatment regime accordingly. 

In December, the same group of researchers announced their ability to extract cancer cells--circulating tumor cells, or CTC-- from the blood using a specialized chip.  They now say that examining the collected cells can help guide therapy. 

"If there were a way of measuring an earlier response, that would be fantastic. The CTC chip offers the promise of non-invasive continuous monitoring," one researcher stated.  The chip is 100 times more sensitive than a U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved technique that uses magnetic beads to try to extract cancer cells.  The system requires only two teaspoons of blood, which are then filtered through a series of 80,000 tiny tubes that search for the presence of certain proteins.  The process takes only eight hours.

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In Britain, a new study has indicated that advancements in MRI technology may detect cancer more easily and determine in one day whether cancer drugs are working, a process that usually takes weeks or months.

The new procedure involves detecting the acidity of tissue within the body. Malignant tumors are typically very acidic. "You are imaging not just tissue structure but tissue function," said Kevin Brindle, whose study is published in the journal Nature. "We wanted to measure tissue pH, which is a surrogate for disease."

The researchers injected mice with a form of bicarbonate (more commonly known as baking soda) and watched with the MRI system. The bicarbonate, which is very basic, reacted with the acid in the cancerous tumor to produce carbon dioxide, which was detected with the MRI.

Using an emerging technique called dynamic nuclear polarization that boosts MRI sensitivity more than 10,000 times, researchers detected the pH level in the tissue. The process involves cooling a molecule to nearly absolute zero before reheating it: this keeps the molecule polarized and more easily detected on an image.

The new technique is expected to enter human clinical trials in 2009. Overall, it means fast diagnosis and more precise drug administration. "If you could see a change in tissue function you could see if a drug is working earlier," Brindle said. "If not, you could try a different drug."

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