UMass Medical School, Georgia company to partner in clinical study

The University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester will partner with Atlanta-based medical device firm LumaMed in a joint clinical study to evaluate the effectiveness of an imaging platform used in breast cancer surgery, and possibly other types of cancer surgeries.

LumaMed said the grant-funded study builds on previous work by UMass Medical School (UMMS) and others as the company seeks to commercialize its LumaScan platform. The technology was developed by the Wellman Center for Photonics at Massachusetts General Hospital. It has been clinically evaluated by UMMS and is licensed to LumaMed, according to a company statement.

LumaMed said it received two grants from the National Cancer Institute, as well as private investment, to develop the technology. CEO Mark Samuels said LumaScan has the potential to help surgeons visualize a variety of cancers during surgery.

“We believe our LumaScan platform offers the promise of helping surgeons save the lives of men and women affected not just by breast cancer, but by the many types of solid tumors surgically removed today,” Samuels said in a statement.

Dr. Ashraf Khan, director of surgical pathology at UMMS and the study’s principal investigator, added that researchers have used LumaScan to differentiate between cancerous and non-cancerous tissue in the past and has “great potential” for use during breast conserving surgery in cancer patients.