Cancer diagnosis

 

Zytopathologische Tumordiagnostik

 

„Sanfte“ Krebsdiagnostik

 

A few cells are enough for early detection

 

More and more types of cancer can now be diagnosed early and without a tissue biopsy: in cytopathological cancer diagnosis the physician works “with cells instead of scalpels”. A few cells are taken painlessly and without bleeding by smear or puncture, sparing most patients an operation.

This progress is made possible by microscopic measurements of various cell components such as the amount of genetic material (DNA) or specific proteins (antigens, nuclear proteins). This allows oral cancer and pleural cancer, for example, to be detected gently, inexpensively and early.

If these measurements are carried out one after another on the same cells, the cell samples can be even smaller than before. At the same time the informative value of the measurements, and thus the reliability of the diagnosis, is increased. This “multimodal” cell analysis is currently being investigated at the Institute of Cytopathology at Düsseldorf University Hospital erschlossen.