A technique that specifically “tags” tumors responding to chemotherapy may offer a new strategy for determining a cancer treatment’s effectiveness within days of starting treatment, according to a new study by Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center investigators. Appearing online ahead of print in Nature Medicine, the researchers report the identification of a small protein that specifically recognizes tumors responding to chemotherapy. They show that the protein, when tagged with a light-emitting molecule, can be used to visualize cancer response in mice just two days after starting therapy.
