Scientists at the have discovered a novel method of diagnosing non-Hodgkin lymphoma, a group of cancers that start in cells called lymphocytes, which are part of the body’蝉 immune system.
Currently, there are no widely recommended screening tests for non-Hodgkin lymphoma, which is usually diagnosed through invasive surgical or needle biopsies, or removal of living tissue for examination.
This new study, published in , suggests the use of Raman spectroscopy technology as an initial step to determine if and when a biopsy would be necessary.
The study is led by Bruce Shiramizu, pediatrician researcher at the (JABSOM) and senior author of the paper. Shiramizu describes their findings as a repurposing of technology that has been used for the Department of Defense in remotely identifying chemicals such as explosives using a laser technique.
“We partnered with an investigator with a physics background to design a way to use a hand-held probe to identify different types of pediatric non-Hodgkin lymphoma tissues,” said Shiramizu. He adds, “the importance of this work is to be able to use the hand-held probe as a screening or diagnostic tool for real-time assessment of a mass that might be a tumor.”
“This work in characterizing malignant cells has future diagnostic implications as a non-invasive initial tissue assessment in children with potential malignancies,” said Melissa Agsalda-Garcia, researcher at JABSOM’蝉 and first-author of the paper.
This study is being supported by the St. Baldrick’蝉 Foundation, the largest private funder of childhood cancer research grants, through multiple grants totaling $113,000.