It is not far away that patient examines what type of cancer he has by a computer rather than a biopsy, a procedure in which a needle is injected into a tumor to determine what kink of cancer it is, according to Monday's issue of the journal Nature Biotechnology.

In a new study, researchers have figured out how to spot genetic changes in the body that may help determine whether a tumor is shrinking or a drug is working, using standard imaging techniques.

What they found was a way to translate the data from the images into a computer model that could predict what was going on with the genetic material within the tumors.

The main finding is a correspondence between radiographic images and genetic activity.

"You don't have to invade the body in any way. We can actually obtain this information in a non-invasive manner," said Dr. Howard Chang of Stanford University School of Medicine.

"The technic needs to be tested on various types of cancers and diseases to see whether the translation tool is universal," he added.

Source:Xinhua/Agencies