Identifying cancer at an early stage.

• Position: Bladder cancer

A breakthrough method of identifying those at risk for bladder cancer - one of the often-fatal "silent" cancers - has been developed by faculty at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center under the direction of George Hemstreet III, George Lynn Cross Professor of Urology. The researchers have developed the technology to measure certain biochemical changes in bladder tissue, including excess DNA in cells and elevated levels of certain proteins. These identified changes, in turn, provide physicians with their earliest ever warning signs of developing cancer. The process involves using Quantitative Fluorescence Image Analysis (QFIA), a technique developed by Hemstreet that combines computer and microscope technology to count the number of individual proteins and other chemicals within a single cell.

"Pre-malignant conditions often can not be detected by standard laboratory tests," Hemstreet indicates. "With QFIA, we are able to look at a battery of markers in tumors and in the tissue surrounding tumors. What we have found is that cells can appear...