A study testing a device to check for remaining cancer cells during surgery for early breast cancer

The study team found that terahertz pulsed imaging (TPI) can show the difference between normal breast tissue and cancer breast tissue. 

Study design
The team used tissue samples of 46 people. They compared the results of using TPI with the results of the pathologists who looked at the tissue samples in the lab. 

Results
The team looked at how often the TPI:

• reported the correct results (this is accuracy)
• identified the difference between normal cells and cancer cells (this is sensitivity)
• identified correctly who has cancer and who doesn’t (this is specificity)

The team used 2 different methods to make sure that the results were correct. 

Accuracy

The first method showed TPI to be accurate 75 out of every 100 times (75%).
The second method showed TPI to be accurate 69 out of every 100 times (69%).

Sensitivity 
Sensitivity shows how well that test can correctly find cancer cells. A test that is highly sensitive means that there are very few false positives.

The sensitivity of TPI was:

• 86 out of every 100 times (86%) using the first method
• 87 times out of every 100 times (87%) using the second method

Specificity
Specificity tells us whether the test can say correctly that there aren’t cancer cells. A test that is highly specific means that there are very few false positives. 

For specificity TPI was:

• 66 out of every 100 times (66%) correct using the first method
• 54 out of every 100 times (54%) correct using the second method

Both methods showed that TPI:

• is accurate
• could identify the difference between normal and cancer cells
• could identify who has cancer and who doesn’t

Conclusion
The team concluded that the number of times TPI was correct is encouraging. Researchers need to larger clinical trials to:

• confirm these results
• see how well TPI can identify different breast cancers such as DCIS
• see if there is an impact on the number of second surgeries needed

More detailed information
There is more information about this research in the article below. 

Use of a handheld terahertz pulsed imaging device to differentiate benign and malignant breast tissue

M. R. Grootendorst, A. J. Fitzgerald and others

BIOMEDICAL OPTICS EXPRESS, 1 Jun 2017. Volume 8, Issue 6, Pages 2932 - 2945

Where this information comes from    
We have based this summary on the information in the article above. This has been reviewed by independent specialists (peer reviewed ) and published in a medical journal. We have not analysed the data ourselves. As far as we are aware, the link we list above is active and the article is free and available to view.