Kochi hospital develops new technique for uterine cancer treatment

A Kochi hospital has developed a new technique, the 'florescent sentinel node detection', which will help with the treatment of uterine cancer.

The new technique helps in accurately identifying the extent of tumour spread and planning treatment.

The technique was developed by a team led by Dr. R. Anupama at the Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences. She said that the detection of sentinel node using fluorescent imaging after an indocyanine injection is much simpler that the previously used technique, which used to be mapped with blue dye and colloid.

"Until now, we used to do sentinel mapping with blue dye and colloid, but the technique was tedious. Fluorescent imaging after indocyanine injection makes detection of sentinel much simpler," said Dr. Anupama.

"The technique called fluorescent lymphoscintigraphy to identify the sentinel node in uterine cancer. This is the first time, such a procedure has been done in India, though several hospitals in India have been using robotic surgical platform to treat uterine cancer," she added.

Sentinel node is the first node to which cancer cells are most likely to spread from a primary tumour. Majority of uterine cancers spread through lymphatics or natural fluid channels in the body. An accurate identification of the sentinel node helps to map the extent of tumour spread and planning effective treatment. An important aspect of the treatment of uterine cancer is surgery - removing the uterus and the lymph nodes to which the disease could have spread.