Winter 2010 - St. Joseph's Health Care London

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�� Cancer Risk Soars with Indoor Tanning OnLIne Vim ��Vigour · WINTER 2010 One of the biggest skin cancer threats to the younger generation are sunbeds, says Dr. Wei Jing Loo, a dermatologist at St. Joseph’s Hospital. “The risk of malignant melanoma is increased by 75 per cent when people start using tanning beds before age 30. Those doing so most often are girls.” Recently, the Canadian Dermatology Association (CDA) launched a campaign called “Indoor Tanning is Out,” targeted mainly at young women. Ontario’s proposed Skin Cancer Prevention Act, meanwhile, would prohibit marketing or selling tanning services to those under age 19. “We should be happy with the natural color of our skin,” says Dr. Loo. “The tan you buy is artificial and transient; the threat from skin cancer is genuine and may scar or even end life prematurely.” FREE Skin Self-Exam Guide To help find skin cancer early, screenings are a must. For a guide to performing a self-exam, visit the Canadian Dermatology Association at www.dermatology.ca. Select “Skin, Hair & Nails,” and then “Skin” and “Skin Cancer.” LILYVANIA MIKULSKI, AGE 30 FAMILY HISTORY:� �� LIKELY CULPRIT:� �� HER STORY:�� STORY: �� LESSONS LEARNED:� LEARNED: �� EXPERT ADVICE:� ��
Getting It Right Experts at Lawson Health Research Institute are working to improve breast cancer diagnostics Every week in Canada, more than 200 women die of breast cancer, making it the most common cancer among Canadian women. While technology has dramatically improved detection of an abnormality, still challenging is identifying that abnormality. Is it benign or malignant? At the Lawson Health Research Institute (Lawson) in London, Dr. Jeffrey Carson and colleagues are tackling that challenge. Their innovative approach is expected to improve the overall sensitivity and specifi city of breast cancer diagnostics and signifi cantly reduce the need for women to undergo biopsy procedures. Clinical trials will begin soon at the Diagnostic Imaging Centre of St. Joseph’s Health Care, London in collaboration with Dr. Anat Kornecki, breast imaging specialist. Dr. Carson’s team recently won the Lawson Innovation Prize to develop an imaging method capable of characterizing breast lesions. Women diagnosed with a suspicious or undefi ned breast lesion often undergo mammography, ultrasound or MRI for further assessment. But in many cases, these studies can’t distinguish malignant from benign lesions. While biopsy has been the gold standard for determining if a lesion is benign or malignant, the procedure is invasive and can be uncomfortable, explains Dr. Carson. In recent years, there has been great interest in applying optical technologies to breast cancer screening and diagnostics. “Optical imaging has the ability to distinguish between benign and malignant lesions based on optical contrast differences related to blood content and blood oxygenation,” says Dr. Carson. “Detection is facilitated by the low optical contrast of surrounding normal tissues.” FINDING AN ALTERNATIVE This type of imaging is low in cost and safe but has been limited to the detection of lesions near the surface. Deeper lesions are often missed. An alternative optical approach showing great potential is photoacoustic imaging, says Dr. Carson. The technique is capable of obtaining functional optical contrast in tissues at much greater depths and provides image resolution comparable to clinical ultrasound. Dr. Carson and his team have developed a 3-D photoacoustic imaging system that can create optical images in 3-D and track contrast agents in 3-D at an extremely fast rate. “When applied in the clinic, our 3-D photoacoustic imaging system, in combination with existing diagnostic techniques, will provide optical information to the clinician that will help them decide if a breast lesion is benign or malignant,” says Dr. Carson. “At St. Joseph’s, the technology could potentially reduce the number of biopsy procedures each year by 200 or more.” Using their inventive technology, Dr. Carson and his team will take 3-D photoacoustic images of the lesion site prior to biopsy and compare the optical information to results from ultrasound and biopsy. The successful outcome of the trial, says Dr. Kornecki, “will help to improve breast cancer diagnostic procedures and patient care in London and beyond.” BY MELISSA BEILHARTZ AND MICHELE MARTIN The imaging team from Lawson Health Research Institute and St. Joseph’s Health Care, London working to improve breast cancer diagnostics are, from left: Dr. Jeffrey Carson, Dr. Donald Taves, Hazem Al-Aabed, Dr. Anat Kornecki and Michael Roumeliotis. Vim & Vigour · WINTER 2010 49
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Winter 2010 - St. Joseph's Health Care London

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