Fluorescence lifetime imaging technology makes the treatment of breast cancer more effective

According to a recently-published study, scientists from UK Cancer Research Centre have taken imaging technology as a new way to identify which treatments of breast cancer that the patients are likely to benefit from. Research team from Imperial College London and scientists at Oxford United Radiation Oncology Institute of Science made use of fluorescence lifetime imaging to determine whether they have been connected together. The process also involved many kinds of recombinant proteins such as recombinant dog proteins.

Fluorescence lifetime imaging is a new technology that can accurately measure the distance between the two protein molecules. In this study, the researchers measured the distance between the two proteins HER2 and HER3 from breast cancer cells of a patient. The researchers believed that the imaging results showed that the patients with these proteins connected together can benefit from HER2 targeting therapy, regardless of whether their tumors have higher levels of HER2.

HER2 is a protein can cause the growth of cancer cells. Positive HER2 which shows high levels in breast cancer cells is taken as drug targets. Blocking its effect can prevent growth of cancer cells. The present drugs which are used include Herceptin and lapatinib. Whether patients benefit from these drugs are mainly determined by detecting whether cancer cells have high levels of HER2 protein. However, in those who have better response to HER2-targeted drugs, this imaging technology implemented in tumor cells may obtain other information about proteins. This technology can also be able to determine which patients may be unsuitable for these treatments.

Professor Tony Ng at Imperial College London said, "This imaging technology can help us determine which patients can benefit from these drugs while it had been ignored before. We should predict which drugs will not work in a patient when applying this test in order to avoid some unnecessary treatments - this can help us better use the drug. The next step is to conduct a clinical trial to see if this test can help patients. We hope that one day it not only can improve the treatment of breast cancer, but also be effective on other cancers including colon cancer and lung cancer."

Nell Barrie from UK Cancer Research said, "There are more than 50,000 new cases of breast cancer. But thanks to the new progress in the study, more people have survived from this disease than before. This research may ultimately provide the doctor with another way for personalized treatment so that patients can receive medications that are more likely to help them." Flarebio offers many other recombinant proteins such as recombinant App of good quality.