When the prostate cancer cells are exposed to light during surgery, the dye adheres to them and begins to glow.
This lowers the likelihood that the cancer will return and allows surgeons to remove more of it during the procedure.
The dye can be modified to detect different types of prostate cancer, even though it can only detect this one right now.
Professor of surgery at the University of Oxford Freddie Hamdy stated, “With this technique, we can strip all the cancer away, including the cells that have spread from the tumour – which could give it the chance to come back later.” He was the principal investigator on the dye study.
Additionally, it permits us to minimize needless, drastically altering side effects such as incontinence and erectile dysfunction by maintaining as many of the robust tissues surrounding the prostate as possible.”
According to Cancer Research UK, comprehensive clinical trials are underway to determine whether prostate cancer surgery with the marker dye results in greater cancer removal and better preservation of good tissue than current surgical procedures.
In the first research, the dye was administered into 23 men who had prostate cancer and then had their prostates removed surgically.
The cancer cells and the areas where they had spread to other tissues, such the pelvis and lymph nodes, were visible thanks to the fluorescent dye.
The prostate and surrounding areas were illuminated by specialized imaging equipment, which caused the cancer cells to glow.
