TOMSK, Oct 25 – RIA Tomsk. Scientists of Tomsk Scientific Research Institute of Microsurgery developed a lymphoscope, thanks to which it is possible not to remove the lymph nodes of the upper limbs during breast cancer surgery, which, in turn, allow to avoid complications such as edema of the hands or elephantiasis, the president of the SRI Vladimir Baitinger said RIA Tomsk.
According to him, breast cancer - is the most common cancer among women. Most often, metastases are found in the axillary lymph nodes, and before doctors removed all the lymph nodes - both the chest and upper limb. In 50-70% of cases, such operations caused complications in the form of edema of the upper extremities.
"This edema is called elephantiasis of the upper limb. This is a nightmare: one arm is normal and the other is 2-4 times thicker. This is a load on the spine, often there are erysipelas, a woman cannot appear anywhere, can not wear a sundress. The skin becomes folded, rough, there are deep constrictions in the places of skin folds ... The treatment is very complex and lengthy. It’s better to prevent than to treat", - Beitinger said.
© РИА Томск. Павел Стефанский
He explained that the scientists of the research institute developed a technology which allows to save the lymph nodes of the upper limb from the side where the operation is performed, and thereby to avoid edema of the hand. The development allows to differentiate the lymph nodes of the upper limbs and of the chest and remove only the latter, since it is there that metastases develop.
“We developed a technology by which two different fluorescents under the influence of a laser of different wavelengths glow differently. In the axillary fossa, it is clear that the lymph nodes that glow in blue belong to the upper limb, and they need to be saved, and the lymph nodes that glow green, these are the lymph nodes from the chest, and they need to be removed", - the professor added.
Baitinger also said that the studies were funded by a grant from the Ministry of Education and Science. Currently, the development has already received a patent in Russia, and soon it is planned to test it in the Tomsk Regional Oncology Center. The scientists plan to get patents abroad, as the development has no analogues in the whole world.