New Discoveries and Honors in Cancer Research

Moritz F. Kircher, MD, PhD (Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovator ‘14-‘16) and colleagues at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, developed a new handheld device (“Raman scanner”) that can accurately detect cancer cells during surgery. The device resembles a laser pointer and detects nanoprobes that mark tumor cells but not normal cells. In a mouse model of glioblastoma, the scanner enabled researchers to successfully identify and remove all malignant cells in the animals’ brains. The device has the potential to move rapidly into clinical trials, eventually allowing surgeons to remove all cancer cells while sparing healthy tissue. This study was published in the journal ACS Nano.