OKLAHOMA CITY ( KFOR ) — OU Health marked a significant breakthrough for Oklahoma in lung cancer treatment, becoming the first health care system in the state to use an imaging agent that causes cancer cells to glow during surgery.
“This technology allows us to visualize cancer that might otherwise be difficult to detect. For lung cancer patients, it means we can perform less invasive surgeries with more precision, potentially leading to faster recoveries and better outcomes,” said thoracic surgeon Dr. J. Matthew Reinersman , M.D., FACS, Chief of Section of Thoracic and Foregut Surgery in the Department of Surgery at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine.
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The fluorescent imaging technology, Cytalux, is administered before the start of surgery, latches onto cancerous tissue and is followed up by using an infrared imaging system that exposes the cancer.
This gives surgeons a better visual to remove tumors easily, while also saving the healthy tissue.