A special camera used during brain surgery may help judge tumor grade
Original title: Diagnostic performance of intraoperative in vivo hyperspectral imaging for meningioma grading and molecular alterations: results from a prospective feasibility study.
How far along is this research?
- Lab cells
- Animals
- Review
- Tested in people
This was tested in people. That is the most reliable kind of research we share.
This was a first small study in people, and it tested a way to look at tumors, not a treatment.
The short version
Doctors tested a camera that reads tissue during surgery to tell lower grade meningiomas from higher grade ones.
What was studied. Doctors studied Forty-six people having surgery for brain tumors called meningiomas. During surgery they used a camera that measures water and blood in tissue. It needs no dye and does not touch the tumor. Lab testing later showed 35 tumors were grade 1 and 11 were grade 2 or 3.
What they found. Grade 2 and 3 tumors held more water than grade 1 tumors. When the water reading was low, the tumor was never grade 2 or 3 in this group. In a smaller set of 15 tumors, the blood reading looked higher in tumors with a gene change called CDKN2A/B homozygous deletion: Both copies of two genes that put the brakes on cell division are missing. In some gliomas this finding sets the grade on its own, even when the cells look quieter under the microscope. See the glossary. Only 3 tumors had that gene change, so the team called this part descriptive.
What this means, and what it doesn't
What it could mean: Someday a surgeon might get a hint about a tumor while still in the operating room. That could help them plan during surgery instead of waiting on the lab. For now, lab testing of the tumor is still what gives the answer.
What it doesn't mean: This does not change care today. It was a first feasibility study in a small number of people, and the gene part rested on only 3 tumors. The camera is not a treatment and it is not a cure. It does not replace lab testing of the tumor. Bigger studies are needed before this could be used in everyday care.
Source: PubMed, September 1, 2026 · Read the original
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