It works! The test developed by pathologist Niels Rupp at the USZ for diagnosing tumors of the salivary gland has proven its worth in practice. The test enables all the typical genetic changes to be detected in a single analysis, making diagnosis significantly easier. Determining the type of tumor in cases of salivary gland cancer is a very complex matter, made even more difficult by the fact that it’s hard to distinguish malignant from benign tumors. As a result, in the past valuable time has often been lost in identifying the tumor.
The test was developed by Niels Rupp at the Institute of Pathology and Molecular Pathology, supported by a donation to the USZ Foundation from the Iten Kohaut Stiftung. The molecular biologist Sandra Freiberger was also involved in developing the test. It’s been in successful use at USZ since March 2020. Now hospitals all over Switzerland send their tissue samples to USZ to improve the diagnosis and treatment of their patients.
A publication about the test in the journal Neoplasia has also got a broad response from all over the world. Niels Rupp is now setting up collaboration with various university hospitals in neighboring countries to increase the number of samples available for developing and refining the test.