Monday, August 27, 2007
Robarts Research Institute
Medical imaging holds key to cancer detection
LONDON, ON (Aug. 27, 2007) – The Ontario
Institute for Cancer Research (OICR) today named
Robarts imaging scientist Dr. Aaron Fenster
Director of its Imaging Platform.
A leader in the field of medical imaging, Dr.
Fenster founded the Imaging Research
Laboratories at Robarts nearly twenty years ago
and has since been developing technologies to
aid clinicians in the early detection of disease and
the effective delivery of treatment.
In his role as Director of the Imaging Platform, Dr.
Fenster will unite expert researchers and clinicians
from all across the province in translating
laboratory technologies into clinical applications
that ultimately benefit cancer patients.
Some of Dr. Fenster’s current research projects
involve the development of image-guidance
devices to improve the detection and treatment of
prostate cancer using ultrasound. Prostate cancer
affects 30% of men over the age of 50 but is
curable if detected early.
Elevated levels of prostate specific antigen (PSA)
often indicate the presence of cancer; however,
current biopsy methods do not always produce
evidence of cancer on the first, second or even
third biopsy – often returning “false negatives”
until cancerous areas grow large enough to be
touched by the biopsy needle.
One of Dr. Fenster’s technologies currently in
development enables clinicians to target specific
regions of the prostate quickly and accurately
during the procedure and record the exact
locations at which biopsies are taken. The
resulting information helps physicians diagnose
clinically relevant cancers at a curable stage.
“We know that if we could detect cancer earlier,
the treatments we administer could be more
effective,” said Dr. Tom Hudson, President and
Scientific Director of the OICR. “Dr. Fenster and his
colleagues have a high potential for making an
impact in this important area of research.”
For more information contact:
Anthea Rowe, 519-663-3524,
arowe@robarts.ca.
|