OU Health: First in Oklahoma to use 'glowing' agent for lung cancer surgery

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — OU Health marked a significant breakthrough for Oklahoma in lung cancer treatment, becoming the first health care system in the state to use an imaging agent that causes cancer cells to glow during surgery.

"This technology allows us to visualize cancer that might otherwise be difficult to detect. For lung cancer patients, it means we can perform less invasive surgeries with more precision, potentially leading to faster recoveries and better outcomes,” said thoracic surgeon Dr. J. Matthew Reinersman, M.D., FACS, Chief of Section of Thoracic and Foregut Surgery in the Department of Surgery at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine.

The fluorescent imaging technology, Cytalux, is administered before the start of surgery, latches onto cancerous tissue and is followed up by using an infrared imaging system that exposes the cancer.

This gives surgeons a better visual to remove tumors easily, while also saving the healthy tissue.

In September 2024, a 69-year-old cancer patient who originally went in for a shoulder injury, had a small lung nodule or "spot on the lung" discovered during imaging and underwent the procedure successfully.

"His tumor was completely removed with negative margins, and no lymph nodes were involved. He is cancer-free and will not require any other treatment such as chemotherapy or radiation," Dr. Reinersman said.

According to the American Lung Association, lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the United States, with more than 130,000 Americans dying from the disease. More times than not, lung cancer is diagnosed late, when the disease has already started to spread.

"This technology not only helps us with primary lung cancers but also with identifying spread of cancer from other sites to the lung," Dr. Reinersman added. "It's a game-changer for how we approach certain cancer surgeries."

More than 3,200 Oklahomans are said to be diagnosed with lung cancer each year, with almost 16% of patients undergoing surgery as the first course of action when attempting to get rid of the disease.