Helena Aaberg, Information Office
University of Gothenburg
28.02.2010 22:01
Scientist Esmaeil Mehrara
When treating cancer, it is an advantage to know the rate of growth of the cancer tumour. The standard method currently used to determine tumour growth, however, is erroneous. This is the conclusion of scientists at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, who have developed a new model.
The principal reason that patients die of cancer is the spread of cancer cells through the body to form new tumours known as metastases. These metastases are initially so small that they cannot be detected by modern diagnostic methods. The healthcare system must therefore, when treatment begins, rely on mathematical models to calculate the growth of a tumour
The standard method for describing tumour growth uses a parameter known as "doubling time" (DT), which specifies the time it takes for a tumour to double in volume. Scientists at the University of Gothenburg have now shown that this widely applied calculation method is erroneous.
Scientist Esmaeil Mehrara and his colleagues at the Department of Radiation Physics, University of Gothenburg, have developed a new method that calculates the rate of tumour growth more accurately. The new method uses a parameter known as the specific growth rate (SGR), which measures the percentage growth of the tumour per day.
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http://idw-online.de/de/news357529Kurz zusammengefasst:
Nicht die Zeit, in der ein Tumorvolumen sich verdoppelt , sondern die Berechnung des prozentualen Tumorwachstums pro Tag würde eine gezielte Krebs-Behandlung ermöglichen.
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