Home

Jim Olson discusses Tumor Paint 
and Project Violet at TEDx

Blaze Bioscience is dedicated to developing products that assist physicians in their quest to improve the lives of cancer patients.

Blaze's Tumor Paint™ technology is designed to provide real-time, high-resolution intraoperative visualization of cancer cells, enabling better detection and more complete and precise surgical removal of cancer. The first product candidate, which is a combination of a targeting peptide and a fluorescent beacon, is under development for cancer surgery in multiple solid tumor types.

For years, surgeons have been searching for better intraoperative tools to more effectively treat cancer. When removing tumors, the ability to precisely identify them is of paramount importance. If too little tissue is removed, cancer cells are left behind to grow and spread. If too much tissue is removed, the patient may experience significant disabilities and reduced quality of life. Despite advances in intraoperative monitoring and image guidance, postoperative scans sometimes reveal bulky residual tumor that may have been resected safely if surgeons had improved tools to distinguish tumor tissue from normal tissue.

A team of neurosurgeons, engineers and biologists at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and Seattle Children's Hospital Research Institute, led by Dr. Jim Olson, has created a technology that illuminates cancer cells distinguishing tumors from healthy tissue. Tumor Paint™ technology will enable surgeons to see tumors "live" during surgery at greatly improved resolution over pre-operative MRI or direct intra-operative observation, giving the surgeons a better chance of removing all of the cancerous cells without injuring surrounding healthy tissue.