New method of screening for prostate cancer

2001/09/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Medikuntza

Normally, cancer tissue increases faster than healthy tissue, and blood flow is higher in this tissue. Therefore, tumor vascularization is measured for the diagnosis of prostate cancer. This is done by grayscale ultrasound. With this system, however, almost 3 percent of cancers remain undetected.

Researchers at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, USA, and Innsbruck University Hospital in Austria have discovered a new method of cancer detection that they say is much more reliable than the conventional system. This new method is based on the Doppler effect and the signal collected in the ultrasound is encoded in colors. In this way, the direction of blood flow is better observed. According to scientists, this method can be used to diagnose many cancers that had not previously been detected.