Pancreatic cancer surgery could benefit from MasSpec Pen innovation

The University of Texas at Austin has made a significant stride in the field of medical research, as the MasSpec Pen technology has been successfully tested during pancreatic cancer surgeries for the first time. This innovative diagnostic tool, with the potential to revolutionise surgical procedures, was developed by the university and its researchers.

Livia Schiavinato Eberlin, the university investigator who led this research, has submitted required financial disclosure forms with the university. Eberlin is a co-founder and holds an equity stake in MSP Technologies, an inventor-led startup formed to commercialize the MasSpec Pen technology, owned by the university. Additionally, Eberlin receives research support from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas. Zhang, Suliburk, and Eberlin are also shareholders in MS Pen Technologies Inc.

The MasSpec Pen has already been tested in more than 150 human surgeries, including for breast and thyroid, and the technology allows for real-time, precision medicine to be performed in the operating room. This groundbreaking tool can give patients the greatest chance of survival by accurately identifying margins between healthy and cancerous tissue in pancreatic cancer surgeries.

The most common type of pancreatic cancer, pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, has a dismal five-year survival rate of 9% for all stages. The MasSpec Pen offers a beacon of hope, as it accurately identifies tissues and surgical margins directly in patients and differentiates healthy and cancerous tissue.

Banked tissue samples for this study were provided by the Cooperative Human Tissue Network and Baylor. The MasSpec Pen method is more than 100 times as fast as the current gold standard diagnostic, Frozen Section Analysis.

This study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, marks the first published results of intraoperative use of the MasSpec Pen. The research was supported in part by the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. The DOI for this study is 10.1073/pnas.210441118.

Preclinical research about the MasSpec Pen was published in 2017. The university is committed to transparency and disclosure of potential conflicts of interest, ensuring that all research is conducted ethically and with integrity. The MasSpec Pen technology is currently patented by The University of Texas at Austin.

This breakthrough in pancreatic cancer surgery is a testament to the university's dedication to advancing medical technology and improving patient outcomes. As further research and testing continue, the MasSpec Pen could become a standard tool in operating rooms worldwide.