A technique that highlights malignant cells through the use of a fluorescent material is enabling doctors to remove brain tumours more thoroughly than before.
The technique, first used in Germany about four years ago, has been brought to the city by a group of neurosurgeons at Queen Mary Hospital.
Although doctors say it can be applied to many forms of cancer, the technique is now only used on a severe type of brain cancer called glioblastoma multiforme.
Before surgery to remove a brain tumour, the patient drinks a liquid called 5-aminolevulinic acid, or 5-ALA. The acid is only absorbed by malignant cells, which then appear pink under blue light while healthy cells remain blue.
University of Hong Kong clinical assistant professor Gilberto Leung Ka-kit, who brought the technique to Hong Kong, said it was especially useful in brain surgery. 'For other cancers, we normally remove the tumour as well as the healthy cells surrounding it, just to make sure everything is cleared. But we cannot do the same in the brain. Each cell is important in brain function,' he said.
With this technique, doctors were able to remove the last 1 to 2 per cent of a tumour, thus reducing the chance of a relapse, he said.