'Blue light' shows promise in clinical cancer study

Drs. Michael Odell and Martin Corsten of the Faculty of Medicine and The Ottawa Hospital will lead the Ottawa leg of a Canada-wide clinical trial that could revolutionise clinical practice for oral cancer surgery in Canada and around the world.

Drs. Odell and Corsten, professors in the Department of Otolaryngology as well as head and neck surgeons at The Ottawa Hospital, will lead one of nine groups of scientists in various locations across Canada carrying out a $4.7 million clinical study titled Canadian Optically Guided Approach for Oral Lesions Surgical Trial (The COOLS Study). The study, which is funded by the Terry Fox Research Institute, will explore a new approach to removing tumours and pre-cancerous cells from the mouths of patients diagnosed with early-stage oral cancer.

The answer's in the fluorescence

Currently, about 30% of patients who receive oral surgery see their cancer recur. The study will introduce a hand-held light tool that uses fluorescence visualisation (FV) or "blue light," rather than the traditional white light, to determine the tissue to be removed. Under the blue light, normal tissue generates a fluorescence which is absent in tumour or pre-cancerous tissue.

The study will aim to spare normal healthy tissue from surgery while clarifying the true extent of high-risk, pre-cancerous tissue identified through FV. A total of 400 patients will enrol over two years and be followed for an additional two years to see if there is any recurrence of their cancer.

"Our investment in this promising study is our response to a serious clinical concern expressed by head and neck surgeons across Canada and it has the potential to change surgical practices for cancer of the mouth nationally and internationally," said Dr. Victor Ling, TFRI president and scientific director.

"This study could greatly improve surgery for oral cancer and minimise the risk of cancer recurrence," said Dr. Odell, who is also a clinical investigator at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute. "It may also contribute to better care in the future by paving the way for further multi-centre collaborations among head and neck cancer specialists."

The eight other participating sites include Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Montreal, Toronto, London and Halifax.

Source: University of Ottawa