A new dye lights up brain tumor tissue in the lab
Original title: Fluorescence lifetime and intensity detection of water-soluble hypericin accumulation in ex-vivo glioma, meningioma, and brain metastasis tissue.
How far along is this research?
- Lab cells
- Animals
- Review
- Tested in people
This was done on cells in a lab, not in people. It is a very early step.
The dye was only tested on tumor tissue in a lab, never given to a person.
The short version
In lab tests on removed tumor tissue, a dye called hypericin made the tumor glow, even in tumors that a dye used in surgery today does not light up.
What was studied. Researchers took 69 tumor samples from 61 people during brain surgery. The samples included high grade gliomas, lower grade gliomas, meningiomas, and cancer that had spread to the brain. In the lab, the team soaked the samples in a water based form of hypericin and measured how much the tissue glowed.
What they found. After soaking, all the tumor types glowed more brightly. The glow also lasted longer. This happened even in samples that did not light up with 5-ALA, the dye surgeons use now. A computer model could reliably tell soaked samples apart from unsoaked ones.
What this means, and what it doesn't
What it could mean: Surgeons use glowing dyes to see the edge of a tumor while they operate. The dye used today does not work well for some tumors, especially lower grade gliomas. This early work suggests hypericin might light up more kinds of tumors. The researchers say the next step is to test it in people.
What it doesn't mean: This was not a treatment, and it is not a cure. Nothing here shows that anyone lived longer or felt better. The dye was only put on tissue in the lab, after it was already removed from the body. It was never given to a person. No one has tested whether it is safe in people or whether it helps during surgery. That testing has not started yet. This is early science, and it is a long way from anything you could ask your surgeon for.
Source: PubMed, July 20, 2026 · Read the original
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