A method for determining tumor malignancy without biopsy has been found

Traditionally, if a doctor reveals a tumor in one of the patient's organs, he needs an additional invasive procedure called "biopsy" to determine whether the tumor is malignant or benign. Researchers from the Southwestern Medical Center of the University of Texas have developed an innovative technique that allows to accurately determine the composition and aggressiveness of a tumor without invasive interference in the body. And perhaps it was due to the technology of magnetic resonance imaging.

"Biopsy is often associated with pain and discomfort. There have been cases when some patients preferred to refuse further treatment simply in order to avoid this unpleasant procedure, which, as you understand, led to unfortunate consequences, "explains the study co-author Jeffrey Cadedu.

A new technique for determining the type of tumor is called "multiparametric MRI" (mpMRI) and, in addition to the well-developed technology of magnetic resonance imaging, includes a special diagnostic algorithm that estimates several MRI images of the internal organ. In the case of this study, the tests were performed on the kidneys. The algorithm reveals on the images a lot of target factors, including, for example, microscopic accumulations of fat in the tumor, as well as the intensity of the signal at the T2-sequence.

"Using our technology mpMRI, we can obtain a large amount of valuable data on the tumor from the array of images, which in turn will tell us about its development, aggressiveness and other parameters," says the second author of the study, Ivan Pedrosa.

Of course, this technique is not yet capable of replacing the classical biopsy, but rather will be its complement or alternative in some situations. The accuracy of mpMRI is today more than 80%, which is a very good result, especially considering that it is absolutely not necessary to make incisions on the patient's body, to push in them a laparoscope and other instruments, after which to pinch tissue from the tumor. The results of the research were published in The Journal of Urology .

The article is based on materials https://hi-news.ru/technology/najden-sposob-opredeleniya-zlokachestvennosti-opuxoli-bez-ispolzovaniya-biopsii.html.