Vadim Backman

Finding a cure

Early detection technique is applauded

Colon cancer is one of the most prevalent and deadly cancers today. Yet it is also one of the most preventable. The development of a widespread screening technique is of paramount importance in the reduction of colon cancer mortality.

Vadim Backman, a 31-year-old assistant professor of biomedical engineering at McCormick, is being praised for his pioneering research with a technique that can detect colon cancer even before it forms. This work recently earned Backman the distinction of being named one of the world's top 100 young innovators by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Technology Review magazine.

“Colon cancer screening is a major problem,” says Backman. “There are 50 million people who need colonoscopies, and the majority don't get them. It is too costly, and the procedure is discomforting.”

Colon cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States; it is impractical to do a widespread screening for the millions of people who are at risk. Currently, the early diagnosis survival rate is about 80 percent; if diagnosed late, the chance of survival is around 15 percent.

In Backman's research the technique known as four-dimensional elastic light-scattering fingerprinting (4D-ELF) proves to have a diagnostic accuracy rate of 90 to 100 percent. The objective of the 4D-ELF is to identify patients who are at risk for colon cancer. This is especially helpful for those patients who are harboring neoplasia, an abnormal growth of cells in the colon. This cost-effective, easy-to-use technique is likely to be more appealing to patients than the colonoscopy, and Backman hopes it will result in more people becoming aware of precancerous conditions and saved lives.

The 4D-ELF uses a specialized miniature 1 mm fiber-optic probe that passes through the rectum. A fine beam of light is then passed through an optical fiber that allows for reflected light from the tissues to be analyzed. The detection of alterations in cell nanoarchitecture indicates the presence of precancerous or cancerous cells.

“What the Pap smear did for cervical cancer is what the 4D-ELF may potentially do for colon cancer,” Backman says. The Pap smear is one of the great success stories in medicine: It is estimated that there has been a 75 percent reduction in cervical cancer deaths since its introduction in 1955. The 4D-ELF may be as effective as the Pap smear in reducing deaths related to colon cancer.

Backman, who came to the United States in 1996 from Russia, started his collaborative research in medicine, biological sciences, and biomedical engineering at a joint Harvard-MIT program. “At Harvard-MIT I wanted a more practical goal - to make a difference - so I decided to focus on the field of biomedical engineering.” After earning his PhD from Harvard-MIT, Backman came to Northwestern in 2001.

Backman is currently conducting clinical trials on the 4D-ELF technique. “When you are going from 100 to 1,000 patient trials, there are many complications,” he says.

Backman's future research will look for early cell changes and try to determine the causes for those changes. “We also want to know more about the changes in tissue supporting the precancerous cells. It is another research area that we are concentrating on,” he says. Backman and his collaborator, Hemant Roy, director of the Colorectal Cancer Program at Evanston Northwestern Healthcare, are working to bring the technology closer to clinical use.

The development of the 4D-ELF technique has changed the outlook of colon cancer prevention. “In our research my goal is to prevent, not to treat,” says Backman “We want to use medical technology to make a difference.”

- Kelly Janura