Entos Pharmaceuticals CEO John Lewis Featured in Edmonton Journal
John Lewis, CEO of BioAlberta member Entos Pharmaceuticals, and a lead research scientist at the Alberta Prostate Cancer Initiative, was featured in the Edmonton Journal discussing the potential of ultrasound as a prostate cancer biopsy tool.
Invasive biopsies that are currently required for diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer could one day be replaced with relatively painless ultrasounds, say researchers at the University of Alberta. Prostate cancer patients are expected to undergo frequent biopsies to help their doctors understand the progression and nature of the disease.
“A biopsy involves 14 needles through a walnut-size gland, the prostate. As you might imagine, it’s a very uncomfortable and invasive procedure,” said John Lewis, associate professor of oncology at the U of A and a cancer biologist involved in a new study.
Lewis and his team hope to replace these biopsies with a combination of ultrasound and nanotechnology. The procedure will use high-intensity focused ultrasound and nanoparticles that increase the detection of cancer biomarkers in the blood.