In oral cancer the most important prognostic factors for survival are radical removal of tumour and lymph nodes in the neck in case of metastases. Until now the only way to distinguish cancer tissue and lymph nodes from healthy tissue intraoperatively has been inspection and palpation of the tissue.

Demarcation of cancer tissue is difficult and incomplete resections remains a serious problem. Novel technology based on optical imaging and fluorescent tracers makes it possible to visualise cancer tissue and lymph nodes intraopratively.

This project is a collaboration between the Departments of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery and Clinical Physiology, Nuclear medicine & PET at Rigshospitalet and Cluster of Molecular Imaging at the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Copenhagen.

The aim of this project is to examine the use of fluorescent tracers to improve the treatment of oral cancer in preclinical and clinical studies.

 

In two clinical studies of patients with oral cancer with or without metastases respectively, the use of Indocyanine Green and an advanced hand-held camera to localise lymph nodes intraoperatively is compared to present routine operation techniques. It is expected that this novel technique will improve the accuracy of the removal of lymph nodes in the neck thereby reducing the risk of leaving cancer tissue behind.

In an animal model for oral cancer with metastases in mice existing fluorescent tracers and fluorescent tracers developed by the research group is examined. A cancer-specific fluorescent tracer, which can be visualised intraoperatively, can facilitate a more complete and accurate removal of cancer tissue. 

The development of cancer-specific fluorescent tracers is expected to have clinical implications for a wide range of cancer types, including head and neck cancer. With this project research and development of this new research field is established at Rigshospitalet.