The study shows that about 60 percent of cancer patients do...

Nearly 60 percent of all cancer patients do not respond effectively to chemotherapy treatments, scientists at Purdue University estimate. Recent research has suggested that results can be even worse – as many of these patients experience toxic and sometimes fatal side effects. Now a scientist and entrepreneur from Purdue University is working to use simple LED light to determine whether certain chemotherapy options are suitable for certain patients. The work will be published in Scientific Reports. “We are using a technique very similar to the Doppler radar used in weather conditions to advance personalized medicine,” said David Nolte, Edward M. Purcell’s distinguished professor of physics and astronomy at Purdue College of Science. “We take the LED light and point it at biopsies. Then we apply chemotherapy to the biopsies and analyze how the light is scattered by the tissue. ”

Nolte, who is also a member of the Purdue University Center for Cancer Research, said that light scatter dynamics gives scientists and doctors detailed information about the likelihood that a chemotherapy drug will be effective for a patient. Nolte said they got results within 24 hours. This first study looked at biodynamic imaging in human ovarian cancer patients. “We’re looking for signs of apoptosis or what is known as the controlled death of cells,” said Nolte. “Apoptosis is the signal that indicates the effectiveness of chemotherapy on this patient’s tissues and tumors. For some cancers, so many treatment options are available that it is like a doctor trying to stick square pegs into circular holes until the desired result is found. We want to improve this process for patients. ”

Nolte has worked with several groups within the Purdue Entrepreneurship and Commercialization ecosystem, including the Purdue Foundry, developing business plans and finding management. AniDyn, a medical technology startup, was spun off from Purdue by Professors Nolte and John J. Turek. AniDyn focuses on developing and commercializing technologies for imaging living tissues. Nolte also works closely with the Purdue Research Foundation’s Office of Technology Commercialization to patent and license its technologies. (ANI)

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