• Question: Why in the brain? Can you not spot cancers in any other parts of the body? Is it easier to spot cancers in the brain?

    Asked by tomasforzani to Jack on 24 Jun 2013.
    • Photo: Jack Miller

      Jack Miller answered on 24 Jun 2013:

      Hi Tomasforzani,

      I’m actually looking for this particular type of cancer in the brain as it’s a really, really hard problem! At the moment, people with cancer that has metastasised (spread) to the brain really don’t live very long, as there’s no effective cure, and by the time you can spot them in clinical practice they’re too large to do anything about. We’ve got good reason to believe that my technique will be able to spot them earlier, and the signs so far are positive.

      If I can get my technique working, it’s therefore the case that I’ll be able to make a real difference relatively easily, which will provide a motivation for moving the technique forward into the clinic. It can indeed potentially spot cancers in other areas of the body earlier, and there’s been already been one clinical trial in the states that’s shown this to be the case in prostate cancer.

      Hope that helps!

      — Jack

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