New, Non-invasive Method to Detect Kidney Cancer Developed

A new and non-invasive method to detect kidney cancer has been developed by King George's Medical University (KGMU) researchers. This will not only help in early detection of the disease but also suggest treatment protocol.

The risk of infections will also be negligible in comparison to the conventional invasive method of biopsy.

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‘Using the new technique, experts identified biomarkers for kidney cancer. Thereafter, the DCE-MRI was done on 49 patients suspected to be suffering from kidney cancer. The results indicated that these patients had cancer.

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Prof Durgesh Dwivedi, department of radiodiagnosis, who led the study, said, "We have developed a non-invasive method using Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging (DCE-MRI). Our initial study on a small sample size has found the method to be effective. Now an advanced study is being done on a larger sample to establish its efficacy."

"It is a first-of-its-kind method in the world for detecting kidney cancer. It will also suggest which medicines can be given to patients with least side effects. The findings of our pioneering research study have recently been published in the high-impact and peer reviewed International Journal of Cancer and Clinical Research," he informed.

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Renal cell carcinoma is kidney cancer that affects the lining of the kidney tubules. The initial stages of the cancer are asymptomatic and this makes early management of the disease difficult.

According to Prof Dwivedi, traditionally, biopsy is done to confirm cancer in kidney cells. In this procedure, tissues of the tumour on the kidney are taken out by inserting a needle. However, since cancer patients are immune-compromised, there are chances of infection in inserting a needle in the organ as it cuts into the tissues.

On the other hand, DCE-MRI -- an advanced version of MRI -- is a combination of non-invasive imaging, genomics and radiomix.

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"Simultaneously, these patients also underwent biopsy tests, the results of which confirmed cancer. This proved that the diagnosis done through DCE-MRI is as effective as biopsy.

The study is now being conducted on a larger sample of patients to further consolidate our findings.

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Kidney cancer also called renal cancer is one of the top 10 most common cancers in both men and women. Kidney cancer mostly affects people above 65 years of age. There are four types of kidney cancer namely renal cell carcinoma, transitional cell carcinoma, Wilms tumor and renal sarcoma.

As part of the study, experts also conducted DCE-MRI of 19 other patients who had already been diagnosed with cancer through biopsy and were under medication for some time.

The objective of this research was to examine how effective drugs and therapies (anti-angiogenic and immune) are in preventing growth of cancer cells in these patients.

"The DCE-MRI results were analysed along with genetics and observable physical properties of the patients. The minute observations not only facilitated identification of biomarkers required to diagnose cancer but also helped in examining whether a drug/therapy is reducing or increasing inflammation in a patient or causing any side effects," said Prof Dwivedi.

Source-IANS