Cancer Advance

By Irina Titova

The St. Petersburg Times

Published: March 20, 2013 (Issue # 1751)

St. Petersburg oncologists have developed a unique method of diagnosing and eliminating small tumors. The discovery, made by scientists from the city’s Oncology Center located in Pesochnoye, represents a major medical breakthrough, the news website Fontanka.ru reported last week.

Until recently, cancer diagnostics did not allow doctors to detect and accurately diagnose cancerous tumors of less than 10 millimeters.

This discovery is particularly important for the diagnosis of cancer of the liver, which is one of the most prevalent causes of tumors. The major task facing doctors in fighting the disease was the development of a procedure to allow for the discovery and elimination of micro-metastatic tumors in the liver.

The new method lets doctors help patients who even have fourth-stage cancer.

Pavel Balakhnin, who headed the group responsible for developing the new methodology at the center, said that initially they had carried out a unique study of the peculiarities of blood supply to small tumors in the liver, work that became possible thanks to a new generation of equipment.

In addition, the new methodology also allows doctors to definitively identify the nature of any tumors and cysts in the liver. Until recently, identification of whether tiny growths were benign or cancerous was difficult, and often even impossible.