Palcic , Branko
Honorary Professor, Dept of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
Adjunct Professor, Dept of Physics
Senior Scientist, Cancer Imaging Department, BC Cancer Agency
Dipl. Ing. (Physics), University of Ljubljana, Slovenia (1965)
PhD (Biology), McMaster University (1972)
NCI Post-doctoral Fellow, B.C. Cancer Institute,
Vancouver, B.C. (1972-83)
Research Interests
My main research interest has been in the development of methods to detect cancer in its early, non-invasive pre-cancerous stage. I have been exploring means to measure the physical properties of cells and tissues using solid state detectors coupled to fast computers for analysis of the gathered data. This approach has led to the development of several new techniques and procedures for the detection, diagnosis and prognosis of early cancer and precancerous lesions. Examples include the development of fluorescence and spectral endoscopy for lung and other tissues, which exploits phenomena that optical properties of healthy tissues differ from those of tissues with malignant diseases. These differences have been employed to build real-time imaging devices that have already been used routinely in clinical settings throughout the world, particularly in detecting and localizing peripheral lung cancer. This work continues for other tissue sites such as the gastrointestinal tract, larynx, pharynx, skin, etc.
A different approach has been explored for analyzing tissues and cells from histological and cytological samples. Automated, high resolution imaging systems have been developed that allow rapid and precise analysis of a large number of cells and tissue structures, providing quantitative data for detection, diagnosis and prognosis of the cancerous and pre-cancerous lesions. Particular emphasis has been placed on our hypothesis postulating that the best information for malignancy can be obtained from the surrounding normal tissue cells. In the presence of a nearby malignant growth, normal appearing cells experience subtle, but measurable changes in their nuclear features. This phenomena has been exploited to develop the means to detect otherwise occult malignancies as well as to characterize malignant potential of the early, non-invasive cancers and pre-cancerous lesions. The same approach is being developed to monitor the treatment outcome.
I am particularly interested to research and develop a comprehensive approach to prevention of invasive cancer. At present, the key target is lung cancer, although similar work is being conducted for other tissue sites such as prostate, breast, ovary, esophagus, and others. The key to this approach is targeted screening of high-risk individuals using the above methods to detect lesions at a non-invasive stage where they can be readily treated with nearly 100% success rate.