A revolutionary radiological technique that uses tiny bubbles to help detect cancer has been developed by clinicians at a west Kent hospital trust.
Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust said the breakthrough in diagnostic care would prevent thousands of breast cancer patients in the UK and tens of thousands of women worldwide, from having to have repeat surgery.
Dr Ali Sever, a consultant radiologist, who led the study, said: "This is a world first. The test only takes a few minutes to perform and has transformed the way we care for patients."
Traditionally in operations to remove breast cancer, surgeons recommend that patients also have an operation to remove glands in their armpit to check if they are cancerous.
This so-called ‘sentinel lymph node’ is the first to be affected if the cancer has spread. If the nodes are found to be cancerous a second operation is required to remove all the remaining glands in the armpit.
But the new procedure, which was pioneered by the specialist breast cancer unit at Maidstone Hospital, allows the sentinel lymph node to be located and tested without surgery.
Microbubbles or minute bubbles are injected by the radiologist in a tiny amount of fluid into the patient’s breast.
The travel to the sentinel lymph node and can be spotted using ultrasound. A fine needle biopsy can then be performed to see if the node is cancerous. If the test is positive, patients have just one operation to remove all the lymph glands at the same time as their main operation.
Dr Sever added: "The use of ultrasound with microbubbles to detect the sentinel lymph node is unique and something that will benefit breast cancer care around the world."
Consultant breast surgeon Mr Peter Jones, who is part of the team that developed the ground-breaking "microbubbles" procedure, said: "It is possible for breast teams to use this test and thousands of women can avoid unnecessary surgery."
Another member of the team, Mrs Sue Jones, consultant breast and oncoplastic surgeon, said: "Telling women who have undergone breast cancer surgery that they need another operation because the cancer has spread to the sentinel lymph node is the worst news they can hear. It is a real emotional set back in their cancer journey.
"While still traumatic, patients seem to deal with this news much better if they find out before operation that the lymph glands have cancer in them."
About 25 per cent of breast cancer patients are found to have cancer in the sentinel lymph node and go on to need a second operation.
The results of the team’s work are being shared worldwide at international health conferences and have been published in this month’s British Journal of Surgery. Dr Sever has been asked to talk about the revolutionary procedure on American television.
POSTED: 06/11/2009 16:30:00
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