Texas A&M researchers working to improve early detection of oral cancer
The American Cancer Society estimates that nearly 2.5 percent of new cancer cases diagnosed this year will be found in the mouth. That's more than 41,000 people who will face countless tests and several rounds of chemotherapy, surgery or radiation to combat oral cancer.
Kristen Maitland, a professor of biomedical engineering at Texas A&M University, is trying to make that percentage of patients go up -- in a good way.
Maitland is the principal investigator on a research project that could boost early detection of oral cancer. Maitland and a team of researchers are developing an imaging system that combines two cameras to detect cancerous and pre-cancerous cells in the mouth. The project started with testing on hamsters and is now in the early stages of testing on human tissue samples.
The goal is to create a new screening tool that can diagnose oral cancer with greater accuracy.
More at
http://www.theeagle.com/news/a_m/article_646a237e-1da9-562f-b609-ef4474a002dd.html .
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