Thursday, February 25, 2016

How sugar can detect cancerous tumours!

Swedish researchers have developed a new magnetic imaging technique that utilises sugar to assess the malignancy of tumours in cancer patients.

The new imaging technique has been combined with the testing of natural sugar as a replacement for metal in contrast agents.

The results showed that malignant tumours (cancerous cells) show higher sugar consumption than surrounding tissue.

"If sugar replaces metal as a contrast agent in the body, it can also have a positive psychological effect and make patients calmer," said Linda Knutsson, lecturer at the Lund University in Sweden.Further, sugar-based contrast agents are cheaper than metal-based agents, leading to a reduction in medical care costs.


However, sugar-based contrast agents cannot be used in examinations of diabetic patients who may have cancer, the researchers explained in the study published in the journal Tomography.


Source : TOI 

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