Researchers have used a chemical compound to light up treatment-resistant cancers on imaging scans, in a breakthrough that could help medical professionals better target and treat cancer.
The authors at King’s College London say that using the radiotracer—an injected compound used in PET scans—could help inform doctors that a patient’s aggressive cancer will not respond to chemotherapy before treatment is given. This would prevent patients receiving unnecessary treatment and provide them with alternative options that will give them the best chance of beating the disease.
The paper, “Imaging NRF2 activation in non-small cell lung cancer with positron emission tomography” published in Nature Communications, shows therapy-resistant non-small cell lung cancer tumors “lit up like a Christmas tree” on PET scans when the radiotracer was injected.
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