神经胶质瘤是一种预后较差的脑瘤，为了改善患者的预后，临床医生们会尽可能地在神经外科肿瘤手术中对其进行移除，然而，尤其对于缓慢生长低级别的胶质瘤，研究者往往很难将其疾病组织同健康组织区分，近日，来自加利福尼亚大学等机构的研究人员设计出了一种新技术来促进低级别胶质瘤能够可见，研究者在该技术中使用了一种名为5-ALA的创新性探针来作为荧光标记物。

图片来源：www.medimaging.net

在澳大利亚，每年大约会有450人患上胶质瘤，如今，荧光标记物5-ALA通常被用作外科手术中切除患者机体中快速增长的神经胶质瘤，来帮助有效区分疾病组织和健康组织；临床医生在手术中常常会使用一种能够释放蓝光的特殊外科显微镜，其能够使得脑瘤呈现出红光；基于这种技术，外科医生就能够清楚大脑中的病灶，从而就能有效切除肿瘤组织。

新型探针可以对神经胶质瘤可视化

正常情况下，利用5-ALA荧光技术很难在手术中直接观察到生长缓慢、低级别的神经胶质瘤，研究者开发的这种新型探针能够在患者术中测定5-ALA的荧光强度，这种创新性的技术将会首次应用于一大群低级别神经胶质瘤的患者中。

研究者Georg Widhalm表示，最初的研究结果让我们非常欣慰，我们希望这种新技术能够帮助我们在手术期间精准观察到不发荧光的低级别神经胶质瘤，以便未来我们能够更加完全有效地移除这些肿瘤，当然了这也会改变很多患者的预后情况。这种新技术能作为神经外科医师的辅助工具，帮助他们有效区分患者健康的脑部组织和癌变组织。

这项试验中，大约40名患者在加利福尼亚大学接受手术治疗，目前研究者希望后期能够进行更为深入地国际间合作来深入检测这种新技术的优越性。（生物谷Bioon.com）

原始出处：

Innovative probe visualises tumors

Gliomas are a type of brain tumour characterised by a poor prognosis. In order to improve this prognosis, as much of the tumour as possible must be removed safely during the neurosurgical operation. However, especially in the case of slow-growing, low-grade gliomas, it is often difficult to distinguish diseased tissue from healthy tissue. In a joint project, MedUni Vienna, the University of California in San Francisco and the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center (both USA) have now trialed a technique designed to make low-grade gliomas visible. The technique involved using an innovative probe together with 5-ALA as a fluorescence marker during the operation. 5-ALA fluorescence specialist Georg Widhalm, Department of Neurosurgery and member MedUni Vienna/Vienna General Hospital Comprehensive Cancer Center was heavily involved in the project.

In Austria, around 450 people a year develop a glioma. Nowadays, fluorescence marker 5-ALA, which accumulates in the cancerous tissue, is routinely used during surgical resection of fast-growing gliomas (glioblastomas) to help differentiate between diseased tissue and healthy tissue. A special surgical microscope that emits blue light, thereby making the brain tumour glow red, is used during the operation. This shows the surgeon exactly which parts of the brain are diseased, so he/she is better able to resect the tumour......