Leukaemia hope: A diagnostic tool being developed by researchers at the University of Limerick (UL) is expected to assist in the early and accurate diagnosis of cancer in children.
The tool is expected to work by being able to perform gene analysis of microscopic quantities of fluids, including blood samples, taken from patients.
In the long term, it is envisaged the system may rule out the necessity for bone marrow analysis.
The first medical application of the diagnostic system, being developed by the Stokes Research Institute at UL, is likely to be in the area of childhood leukaemia which constitutes a third of all children's cancers.
The Stokes Institute has linked with cancer specialists at Barts Hospital in London and with Prof Rajnish Gupta at the oncology department of Limerick Regional Hospital to advance the research.
More than €2 million from Irish and European funding agencies has been invested in the project.
Prof Mark Davies, director of the Stokes Institute, said yesterday there were 30 people designing and building the new system.
Those working on the project include molecular biologists, engineers, chemists and physicists.
"We would always give caution to any new discoveries but we are very optimistic about this one. We hope to use the new system in parallel with other tests at Barts Hospital later this year. This would give us a clinical validation of the system," he said.
An application had now been made to patent the system, he added.
"The hope is that we would produce very cheap hand-held versions of this in the future so they could be used not just in hospitals but in people's homes and even in villages in India," Prof Davies said.
The goal of early and accurate diagnosis of cancers through genetic analysis remains the target of many large cancer research programmes worldwide. Speed and accuracy of diagnosis is crucial in identifying the method and extent of treatment used to fight the disease.
Prof Davies said childhood cancers responded well to chemotherapy with an approximately 80 per cent success rate five years after therapy.
However, 20 per cent of patients do not survive and chemotherapy itself can be very harmful to the patients who do survive on a long-term basis, he said.
Childhood leukaemias come in many different types and sub-types. Knowing the type and how it would react to treatment, doctors could then apply the most appropriate and minimum dose of chemotherapy, thereby optimising the efficacy of treatment and minimising side effects, he said.
"Possibly the biggest impact on cancer survivability over the next five years will come through early and more accurate diagnosis.
"Early stage cancers have less mutated cells and have not evolved to their most aggressive state. Hence they are more susceptible to treatment," he said.