Comments on: Culturally Immature?!? http://www.merlehamburger.net/2008/05/culturally-immature/ I have Pancreas Cancer, but I'm not Dead Yet! Tue, 20 Dec 2011 22:40:51 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Kat http://www.merlehamburger.net/2008/05/culturally-immature/comment-page-1/#comment-65 Kat Thu, 29 May 2008 19:09:55 +0000 http://www.merlehamburger.net/?p=38#comment-65 I have been keeping up as you direct. As for joining you on this journey, you must know that I'd rather you not have to travel at all. I have always believed that those people who are "larger than life" will make a lasting impression on this earth. I will join you on this journey only because it is eminent and out of our hands. I am proud to be your friend. Pave the way softly, my friend so that the rest of us will not fear to follow. I have been keeping up as you direct. As for joining you on this journey, you must know that I’d rather you not have to travel at all. I have always believed that those people who are “larger than life” will make a lasting impression on this earth. I will join you on this journey only because it is eminent and out of our hands. I am proud to be your friend. Pave the way softly, my friend so that the rest of us will not fear to follow.

]]> By: Rhonda http://www.merlehamburger.net/2008/05/culturally-immature/comment-page-1/#comment-63 Rhonda Thu, 29 May 2008 14:24:17 +0000 http://www.merlehamburger.net/?p=38#comment-63 Merle, I wanted to share this article with you about some breakthroughs they are making with regard to detecting pancreatic cancer. Very exciting progress! Thanks, Rhonda ********************* Turning on pancreatic cancer   Small and even otherwise imperceptibly tiny amounts of cancerous tissue in the pancreas and nearby organs can be made to glow green with a technology being developed by Society grantee Michael Bouvet, MD. The process, undertaken here in laboratory animals, suggests it may be possible to visualize such tumors during a surgical operation and thereby improve upon how clinicians excise and classify cancers.   Bouvet and colleagues in his laboratory at the University of California, San Diego used both an antigen that is present in up to 94 percent of pancreatic adencarcinomas, CA 19-9, as well as an antibody that will seek out and attach itself preferentially to CA 19-9. The antibodies were joined to a light-reactive dye and injected into mice bearing human pancreatic tumors. A day after injection of the fluorescent dye, investigators using surgical laparatomy were able to see numerous small tumors in the mice that escaped detection using a standard imaging technique. In addition, small metastatic tumors were seen within in the liver and spleen, and on the lining of the abdominal cavity. Significantly, the treated antibody was non-toxic. The intensity of the fluorescence seemed to peak around two days after injection and lasted about three weeks, suggesting the dye did not have to be injected precisely at the time of surgery.   The procedure has the potential for addressing one of the particularly difficult problems in pancreatic cancer surgery – how to distinguish tumor cells from normal tissue so that diseased tissue is not missed during a resection. It also may help identify metastatic tumors that may otherwise be overlooked during surgery. The report appeared in the World Journal of Surgery, February 11, 2008 (published online ahead of print; DOI 10.1007/s00268-007-9452-1). Former grantee Robert M. Hoffman, PhD, was a co-author on the paper. Merle,

I wanted to share this article with you about some breakthroughs they are making with regard to detecting pancreatic cancer. Very exciting progress!

Thanks,
Rhonda

*********************

Turning on pancreatic cancer
 
Small and even otherwise imperceptibly tiny amounts of cancerous tissue in the pancreas and nearby organs can be made to glow green with a technology being developed by Society grantee Michael Bouvet, MD. The process, undertaken here in laboratory animals, suggests it may be possible to visualize such tumors during a surgical operation and thereby improve upon how clinicians excise and classify cancers.
 
Bouvet and colleagues in his laboratory at the University of California, San Diego used both an antigen that is present in up to 94 percent of pancreatic adencarcinomas, CA 19-9, as well as an antibody that will seek out and attach itself preferentially to CA 19-9. The antibodies were joined to a light-reactive dye and injected into mice bearing human pancreatic tumors. A day after injection of the fluorescent dye, investigators using surgical laparatomy were able to see numerous small tumors in the mice that escaped detection using a standard imaging technique. In addition, small metastatic tumors were seen within in the liver and spleen, and on the lining of the abdominal cavity. Significantly, the treated antibody was non-toxic. The intensity of the fluorescence seemed to peak around two days after injection and lasted about three weeks, suggesting the dye did not have to be injected precisely at the time of surgery.
 
The procedure has the potential for addressing one of the particularly difficult problems in pancreatic cancer surgery – how to distinguish tumor cells from normal tissue so that diseased tissue is not missed during a resection. It also may help identify metastatic tumors that may otherwise be overlooked during surgery. The report appeared in the World Journal of Surgery, February 11, 2008 (published online ahead of print; DOI 10.1007/s00268-007-9452-1). Former grantee Robert M. Hoffman, PhD, was a co-author on the paper.

]]>