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Breast cancer surgeon's award for 'instant' test
Anna Davis02.12.08
A leading breast cancer surgeon has discovered how to detect the disease with rays of light.
Mohammed Keshtgar can establish if cancer has spread into a patient's lymph glands within seconds using the pioneering procedure.
Currently women have to wait a week for results from a biopsy.
Mr Keshtgar, from the Royal Free hospital in Hampstead, will be presented with a "medical Oscar" tonight for the technique. The Medical Futures Innovation Awards are the most prestigious honours in healthcare.
Mr Keshtgar said the "optical biopsy" has the potential to be used to detect other types of cancer.
The technology allows surgeons to see whether cancer has spread while patients are still in the operating theatre. Light is shone on a sample of the sentinel lymph node, which is the first lymph node that cancer drains into.
The patterns made by the light are analysed by a computer, giving an almost instantaneous picture of cancerous and healthy tissue. After further trials, surgeons will be able to remove the lymph gland during the same operation.
Mr Keshtgar said: "This will avoid second operations, which involve more anaesthetic, more worry and more cost. The other advantage is we are shining light onto the tissue, not destroying it, so the results can be double-checked."
He added: "This could be used to detect other cancers, such as lung, skin and oral cancer."
Mr Keshtgar is set to launch a trial using the optical biopsy to diagnose cancer within the lining of the breast ducts, using a miniature telescope passed through the nipple.
The surgeon is also pioneering keyhole mastectomies. He was the first to carry out the procedure in Europe, and has so far operated on eight patients.
The procedure, which Mr Keshtgar learned in Japan, involves making two small incisions to remove the breast and an implant can then be inserted.
Paula McGinley, 46, from Camden, who was the first woman in Europe to undergo the procedure, said: "The results of the surgery were amazing. The scarring was so minimal."
Mr Keshtgar is also involved in a clinical trial where breast cancer patients are given a dose of radiotherapy as soon as the cancerous tissue has been removed, while still in theatre.
Reader views (4)
In rsponse to comment from sue, pioneering the technique amybe but the node still needs to be removed for analisis
- Qms, UK
Having just undergone the operation known as 'axillary breast node sampling' to see if my breast cancer had spread to the lymph nodes (which fortunately it hasn't) I can see the huge beneftits of this new technique: the operation has left my arm feeling very sore but also partly numb, due to the apparently unavoidable damage caused to the nerves in the process of removing the lymph nodes, and I am told this will last for weeks or months, and that I will probably never recover full normal feeling in my arm. I understand most women suffer in similar ways. If Mr Keshtgar reads this, could he advise how one might contribute to his research project?
- Sue C, Brighton
As an Iranian, I’m proud of Dr. Mohammed Keshtga and his contribution to the humanity.
- Reza Rezai, Washington,USA
Who says that foreigners do not make positive contributions to this country? They do, and very often at the highest levels, such as Professor Magdi Yacob, the pioneering Egyptian heart surgeon who was honoured recently for his work in this country.
We must encourage academics to do research work here, and keep the parasites out.
- V Tan, London
