Seno Medical’s opto-acoustic technology could reduce false positives and identify cancer sub-types
SAN ANTONIO, June 19, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Additional research appearing in the June online issue (open access) of European Radiology features the groundbreaking diagnostic breast cancer imaging technology introduced by Seno Medical Instruments™, Inc. (Seno Medical). This technology might not only help physicians better differentiate between benign and malignant breast lesions, but also discriminate between breast cancer molecular subtypes.
The retrospective European post-marketing surveillance analysis corroborates previous studies, which concluded that opto-acoustic ultrasound (OA/US) technology might increase specificity and the ability to rule out disease, potentially reducing the number of false positive examinations and biopsies of benign masses. Researchers observed results from five centers in the Netherlands, where the technology has been introduced commercially using Seno Medical’s Imagio® Breast Imaging System. In this study, 67 biopsy-proven malignant masses were reviewed to compare OA/US characteristics and histopathological prognostic indicators.
OA/US technology creates a “blood map” that gives functional and anatomical information in and around the mass using hemoglobin as a natural contrast agent. The study results showed that OA/US can also help identify different subtypes of cancer by measuring the emergence of angiogenesis (newly created blood vessels which indicate the presence of malignant activity within and around the mass). Other key factors (e.g. histologic grade, continuous number of mitosis, HER2 and hormone receptor status, and Ki-67 poliferation index) might also be identified with the aid of this technology.
According to the study results, the combination of functional and morphologic information provided by OA/US showed promise in differentiating Luminal A, Luminal B, HER2-enriched, and Triple Negative cancers. These tumors have a different prognosis and require different treatment paths that physicians and patients must consider. Molecular analysis requires specialized equipment and expertise, making this process lengthy and expensive. Breast tumors are heterogeneous and biopsy may be insufficient to assess the complete tumor heterogeneity. Therefore, OA/US features that suggest an aggressive tumor subtype that is potentially conflicting with histopathologic biomarkers might suggest the need for more extensive review and inspection of the pathologic specimen.
“Successful breast cancer treatment relies on detecting the cancer and its subtype as quickly as possible,” said Gisela Menezes, MD, PhD, Medical Director at Seno Medical and the article’s lead author. “This promising data using a non-invasive diagnostic approach with OA/US molecular bioimaging could potentially give patients a better chance of getting more accurate and timely prognosis and treatment.”
“Although this is a new emerging technology, these encouraging results show that Seno Medical’s OA/US technology could impact the course of cancer diagnosis for millions of women,” said Ruud Pijnappel, MD, PhD, Professor at University Medical Center, Utrecht, Netherlands and one of the study’s authors. “This technology could give physicians the information needed to make a more confident diagnosis in less time, improve their patient’s experience, and potentially reduce biopsies of benign masses.”
Seno Medical Instruments™, Inc. is a San Antonio, Texas-based medical imaging company committed to the development and commercialization of a new modality in cancer diagnosis: opto-acoustic imaging a molecular partner to ultrasound. Seno Medical’s Imagio® Breast Imaging System fuses opto-acoustic technology with ultrasound (OA/US) to generate real-time functional and anatomical images of the breast. Through the appearance or absence of two hallmark indicators of cancer – angiogenesis and deoxygenation – the opto-acoustic images provide a unique blood map in and around breast masses while the interleved and coregistered ultrasound provides a traditional anatomic image.
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Bryan Fisher, 202.868.4825, bfisher@messagepartnerspr.com