{"id":502882,"date":"2021-11-18T13:38:35","date_gmt":"2021-11-18T18:38:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/?p=502882"},"modified":"2025-11-19T07:59:32","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T12:59:32","slug":"new-imaging-technology-could-buy-time-for-pancreatic-cancer-patients-502882","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/new-imaging-technology-could-buy-time-for-pancreatic-cancer-patients-502882\/","title":{"rendered":"New imaging technology could buy time for pancreatic cancer patients"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tumor shrinkage is one sign of cancer treatment\u2019s efficacy\u2014but Rochester scientists are exploring elasticity and permeability as well.<\/h2>\n

The insidiousness of pancreatic cancer is how it develops without showing any definitive symptoms. In most cases, by the time it is diagnosed, it is beyond cure.<\/p>\n

And yet, for 10 to 20 percent of patients, pancreatic cancer is caught soon enough, before it has metastasized. This provides surgeons a narrow window of time to try to treat the tumors, shrinking them enough to safely remove them.<\/p>\n

University of Rochester<\/a> engineers, imaging scientists, surgeons, and immunologists are working together on a novel imaging technology to help surgeons make the most of that narrow time frame before the cancer spreads.<\/p>\n

Led by Marvin Doyley<\/a>, professor and chair of electrical and computer engineering<\/a> at the Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, the collaborators have received a $2.4 million grant<\/a> from the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering to look at pancreatic cancer tumors in a different way\u2014measuring not just their size, but also their elasticity and ability to be perfused, or permeated, with blood and other fluids.<\/p>\n

\u201cStandard imaging modalities such as MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) or CT (computed tomography) have been used to see if a tumor is shrinking,\u201d Doyley says. \u201cBut there is a lot of data that suggests just looking at size reduction by itself is not necessarily the best marker to judge whether patients are responding to therapy. We\u2019re basically trying to fix that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ultimate goal is to develop an endoscopic device that surgeons could use to look inside the body in order to determine whether a patient is responding to treatment and, if so, when they are ready to undergo tumor removal.<\/p>\n

The first step is to demonstrate whether increases in tumor elasticity and perfusion are indeed valid biomarkers to more quickly determine that a tumor is responding to treatment in ways that will help ensure a successful surgical outcome. And if not, to switch to a different treatment.<\/p>\n

Overcoming tumor barriers with two types of imaging<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Pancreatic cancer tumors typically have a stiff barrier around them, which can pinch off the ability of blood vessels to perfuse the tumor with chemotherapy drugs designed to shrink the tumor, Doyley explains.<\/p>\n

To address the specific challenges of pancreatic cancer tumors, the researchers will use a combination of two imaging modalities:<\/p>\n