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Disease Detecting Pill Being Researched By University Of Michigan Professor

Evan Dougherty

A new way of detecting cancerous tumors is being researched by a University of Michigan professor that could someday replace the notoriously uncomfortable mammogram.

89.1 WEMU’S Lisa Barry spoke with University of Michigan biomedical engineering professor Greg Thurberabout this new process.

It uses a disease-screening pill that makes tumors light up when exposed toinfrared light.

Credit University of Michigan
University of Michigan biomedical engineering professor Greg Thurber.

Thurber lead a team of researchers on the process and says it has been shown to work in research on mice.

He adds that there are several benefits for detecting cancer by this method.

Credit Evan Dougherty
Sumit Bhatnagar, a PhD student in chemical engineering, inspects and analyzes tumor cells used in his research developing a diagnostic screening pill for breast cancer and other diseases under the direction of Greg Thurber, an assistant professor in chemical engineering.

“Three of the main benefits that we’re really focused on are safety, cost, and compliance,” says Thurber.

Credit Evan Dougherty
The pill would contain a fluorescent imaging agent connected to a targeting molecule that binds to cancerous cells in breast tissue, in order to make earlier and more accurate breast cancer diagnoses.

Thurber says molecular imaging provides a more precise way of detecting tumors and determining if they are cancerous or benign.

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— Lisa Barry is the host of All Things Considered on WEMU. You can contact Lisa at 734.487.3363, on Twitter @LisaWEMU, or email her at lbarryma@emich.edu

Lisa Barry was a reporter, and host of All Things Considered on 89.1 WEMU.
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