New Technique Predicts Breast Cancer Chemtherapy Effectiveness

Atlanta (February 2, 2009) —Chemotherapy is an integral part of modern cancer treatment, but it’s not always effective. Successful chemotherapy depends on the ability of anticancer drugs to escape from the bloodstream through the leaky blood vessels that often surround tumors.

Predicting chemotherapy’s efficacy could save thousands of individuals from unnecessary toxicity and the often difficult side effects of the treatments

In a study published in the February issue of the journal Radiology, researchers describe a technique for determining the “leakiness” of tumor blood vessels using a simple digital mammography unit. The researchers designed nanometer-sized capsules containing a contrast agent that could only leak into tumors with blood vessels that were growing and therefore leaky. The digital mammography-based quantification of “leakiness” is closely correlated to the ability of a clinically approved chemotherapy agent to enter the tumor, allowing the researchers to predict the agent’s therapeutic efficacy.

source: Georgia Institute of Technology (News Release)