Project to Focus Lasers on Bladder Cancer

A European-wide project co-ordinated by the University of Dundee and working with industrial partners,is to investigate the use of advanced laser techniques for detection and treatment of bladder cancer. The ABLADE (Advanced Bladder cancer LAser Diagnostics and thErapy) project will work to exploit differences in the response of healthy and cancerous tissue when exposed to infra red light to develop integrated laser diagnostic and therapeutic techniques.

The project brings together experts from the University’s Medical School and Photonics and Nanoscience Group, with companies in the Netherlands and Russia.

“What we have seen when looking at cells is that there is a notable difference in the behaviour of the cancerous cells and healthy ones when exposed to particular laser wavelengths,” said Dr Ghulam Nabi, Senior Clinical Lecturer in Surgical Uro-oncology. “This means that, in theory, we can first identify the cancer cells and then selectively kill them with certain wavelengths without damaging the surrounding healthy tissue.

Professor Edik Rafailov, leader of the Photonics and Nanoscience Group at Dundee, said, “This project builds on new laser techniques and technologies we have already developed at Dundee which are opening up new possibilities for clinical diagnostics.

The project is supported by a €2.3million grant from the European Union’s Marie Curie IAPP (Industry-Academia Partnership & Pathways) programme. The industrial partners are 2M Netherlands BV, in the Netherlands, and SPE `Lazma’ Ltd, in Russia.