New Rapid Gene Test Aids Brain Cancer Surgery

     From research posted by the Med Journal "Ultra-rapid droplet digital PCR enables intraoperative tumor quantification", may change surgery for brain cancer forever. This new test can detect as few as 5 cancer cells per square millimeter in a test that takes only 15 minutes. Doctors can now use this new tissue test in order to understand tumor location and severity while still operating. This fast testing is allowing doctors a further understanding into these brain surgeries meaning in the future they will only get more precise. The test allows doctors like Dr.Daniel Orringer to remove as much of the tumor as safely as possible while getting these test results during the operation.

    There is another digital PCR Droplet test that exists already but it takes several hours to produce a result! This new rapid test is giving doctors a whole new ability to run tissue tests during ongoing operations which increases the safety and accuracy of removing brain tumors. The researchers who made this test shortened the time to extract DNA to less than 5 minutes making this test possible. They think in the future this test could be used for other cancers as well which could greatly decrease the risk of cancer surgeries and the possibility of cancer regrowth. 

Article:

https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2025-02-26/rapid-gene-test-aids-brain-cancer-surgery 

Scientific Journal:

https://www.cell.com/med/abstract/S2666-6340(25)00031-5