Imagine you’re in the middle of brain surgery, and the surgeon needs to make split-second decisions about what tissue to remove.
Enter a groundbreaking genetic test that’s shaking up the way we approach brain cancer surgery.
This isn’t just another medical advancement—it’s a game-changer. With this test, surgeons can get real-time insights into whether cancer cells are present, all while the patient is still on the operating table.
Here’s the kicker: this test can identify cancer cells in as little as 15 minutes. It’s called the Ultra-Rapid droplet digital PCR, and it’s a big leap from the traditional PCR test, which used to take hours.
Dr. Daniel Orringer, an associate professor at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, explains that the success of brain cancer surgery often hinges on removing as much of the tumor and surrounding cancer cells as safely possible. This test allows surgeons to do just that with unprecedented accuracy.
So, how does it work? The test is incredibly sensitive—it can detect as few as five cancer cells per square millimeter.
In a study published in the journal Cell, researchers tested it on over 75 samples from 22 patients with glioma tumors, a common type of brain cancer.
The results? Just as accurate as the standard PCR tests, but much faster. Dr. Gilad Evrony, a geneticist at NYU, believes this test could eventually help diagnose cancers beyond the brain.
How they pulled this off? Researchers streamlined the traditional testing steps, cutting down DNA extraction time from 30 minutes to under five and reducing sample treatment from two hours to less than three minutes.
It’s a significant breakthrough, but there’s more work ahead. The goal is to automate the test for broader use, although it’ll need more refinement and clinical trials before it becomes standard practice.
