Cancer Surgery 2.0: Guidance by Real-Time Molecular Technologies

Importance of Clear Margin Delineation and Debulking Efficiency For solid tumors, surgery remains the first frontline treatment in nearly 80% of diagnosed cases [1]. Many studies have shown that clear surgical tumor margins and debulking via surgery have a drastic impact on patient survival rates. However, surgeons are faced with difficult decisionmaking with regards to margin delineation and visualization of the actual extension of the tumor. Tumors are normally removed with surrounding healthy tissue margins, wide enough to ABSTRACT In vivo cancer margin delineation during surgery remains a major challenge. Despite the availability of several image guidance techniques and intraoperative assessment, clear surgical margins and debulking efficiency remain scarce. For this reason, there is particular interest in developing rapid intraoperative tools with high sensitivity and specificity to help guide cancer surgery in vivo. Recently, several emerging technologies including intraoperative mass spectrometry have paved the way for molecular guidance in a clinical setting. We evaluate these techniques and assess their relevance for intraoperative surgical guidance and how they can transform the future of molecular cancer surgery, diagnostics, patient management and care.

Automated summary

The importance of clear margin delineation and debulking in surgery for solid tumors has significant impact on patient survival rates. However, achieving clear surgical margins and efficient debulking remains a challenge in practice, despite the availability of various image guidance techniques and intraoperative assessment.