Visualizing Cancer: Images of tumors can detect gene expression
Radiologists have found a way to use X-ray scans to identify which genes in a tumor are active.
The ability to glean genetic information about tumors from routine medical imagery could increase the use of cancer therapies that target a tumor’s genetic quirks. Targeted therapies promise better cancer treatments with fewer side effects than current approaches do. But doctors rarely profile a tumor’s genes, in part because it’s expensive to do and requires surgical removal of tissue.