New Technology Lets Researchers See Cancer Cells in Stunning Detail
Cancer research has made another positive stride in learning about cancer, how it works and how to hopefully improve a treatment’s effectiveness.
Cancer research has made another positive stride in learning about cancer, how it works and how to hopefully improve a treatment’s effectiveness.
Scientists at GE’s Global Research have created a system called MultiOmyx. This system is changing how cancer researchers look at cells by allowing researchers to see an extremely detailed sample of proteins in one tissue sample. By being able to see a more detailed sample, researchers will be able to learn more about tumors and how well a treatment may or may not work.
Typically, when examining a tissue sample researchers look at H&E samples, which are samples stained with hematoxylin and eosin in order to distinguish cancer cells from red blood cells.
For example, in one lung cancer sample, the cancer cells were stained a light pink, the nucleus of each cancer cell was stained dark blue, and the red blood cells were a bright pink.
However, the images of the samples are basic, and they provide little and sometimes murky information. MultiOmyx changes that. By using the MultiOmyx system to enhance the lung cancer sample mentioned above researchers were able to see the cancer cells, nuclei, and the red blood cells much more clearly. Each part of the image became defined and sharp.
New Insights Into Tumor Behavior Revealed
The MultiOmyx system does more than clearly define parts of a tissue sample. It can also stain and show healthy cells and fibroblasts (a type of cell that helps manufacture and maintain connective tissue).
Studying noncancerous cells is important because they could unlock the key to fighting cancer cells. Identifying fibroblasts is equally important, because they may encourage cancer cell growth.
Through this new technology, researchers will potentially be able to create more targeted and individualized treatments for patients. In one image, the fibroblast stain and the general cancer cell stain was removed, leaving behind a red stain that showed potential drug targets.
Researchers may also determine the effectiveness of a treatment before it’s even given by using the Multiomyx system. In one sample they were able to highlight the cancer stem cells in a turquoise color. Cancer stem cells are extremely resistant to chemotherapy, so determining how many stem cells are present can predict how effective a treatment may or may not be.
The Multiomyx system can also help determine precursors of cancer. In a sample of breast tissue, proteins not normally found in healthy breast tissue where stained pink and blue.
By highlighting these potentially harmful proteins, doctors may be able to spot precancerous changes and recommend a course of treatment before cancer develops.
While the exact implications of how MultiOmyx may change cancer imaging and research haven’t been fully revealed, it’s clear that it provides a much more accurate reading than previous technology and will help give researchers a better understanding of how cancer works.
GE Global Research explained that MultiOmyx allows dozens of proteins and DNA changes in a sample to be analyzed at one time, giving doctors valuable insights that weren’t formerly available. The company continued:
“This platform not only circumvents the challenge of limited samples, but also provides unprecedented insights into tumor biology. Instead of being able to study one or two disease markers at a time, GE’s tumor analysis technology enables the study of up to 60 proteins in a single tumor slice.
Also, GE’s technology allows pathologists and researchers to study the relationships between these different proteins or disease markers in ways not possible before, which could yield new insights into tumor behavior and provide a more complete picture of a patient’s cancer.”
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