Researchers have developed an ingestible pill that causes breast tumors to light up when exposed to infrared light. The technology could help clinicians distinguish between benign and malignant lesions, according to a study published in Molecular Pharmaceutics.
A team led by Greg Thurber, PhD, from the University of Michigan developed a diagnostic screening pill for breast cancer that contains a fluorescent imaging agent connected to a targeting molecule that binds to cancerous cells in breast tissue.
The group conducted a study using mice with breast cancer and found that the agent, a dye that responds to infrared light, passed through the stomach and the liver to the bloodstream to attach to the tumors (Mol Pharm, May 7, 2018, Vol. 15:5, pp. 1746-1754).
Infrared light penetrates the body easily without the risk of radiation that's inherent with x-rays, and delivering the dye orally rather than intravenously is safer for patients, according to Thurber's team.
The researchers hope the pill will address mammography's overdiagnosis problem, Thurber said in a statement released by the university.
"We overspend $4 billion per year on the diagnosis and treatment of cancers [with mammography] that women would never die from," he said. "Molecular imaging can help us see which tumors need to be treated."
