The FINANCIAL — The University of Liverpool has been awarded £3.2 million to develop new diagnostic tests for cervical, oesophageal and prostate cancer patients, according to the University of Liverpool.
These cancers are difficult to detect at an early stage as symptoms only become apparent when the tumours become large.
Research at Liverpool has already shown that infra-red electron laser technology could diagnose the presence of oesophageal cancer, but more work is needed to understand the changes within individual cells prior to cancer development, according to University of Liverpool.
Funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) will allow researchers to use a unique and extremely intense source of infrared light (the Infrared Free Electron Laser) using the Science and Technology Facilities Council’s ALICE accelerator testing facility to identify changes within and surrounding cells which indicate a tumour.
They will develop equipment in the terahertz region of the electromagnetic spectrum to facilitate the design of cheap portable instruments for cancer diagnosis, according to University of Liverpool.
“Researchers in clinical and physical sciences are exploring how to identify, at a very early stage, the chemical changes in cells which lead to the development of cancer," said Peter Weightman, Liverpool Professor of Physics. “The funding will allow us to further develop, test and apply our diagnostic technique to cervical and prostate cancers. Early diagnosis is the most important thing when treating cancers and we hope this new technique will result in new instrumentation that will directly benefit patients,” he addedd.
“The technology we are using provides a unique opportunity to detect alterations in both cancer and the surrounding stromal cells which indicate tumour progression, thereby helping diagnosis and the development of therapies,” said Gastric cancer specialist, Professor Andrea Varro, from the University’s Institute of Translational Medicine.
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