Use of medical imaging is enabling Stanford University School of Medicine doctors to detect colon cancer in its early stages without using a biopsy.

The technique developed at the medical school may be used for detecting not just colon cancer but other cancers, too, according to Christopher Contag, associate professor of pediatrics and microbiology and immunology.

He led a study, published Sunday in Nature Medicine.

"Detecting colon cancers is just the first step," Contag said. The technique may also be used to detect early stages of mouth, stomach and skin cancers and directly deliver chemotherapy to the cancerous cells.

The imaging technique enables Contag and colleagues to see which cells are cancerous while they are still in the body and not removed via a biopsy.

The research group found a short protein that sticks to colon cells in the early stages of cancer and then "sprayed" it via a light beacon into the colon, where the protein can be seen sticking to cancerous cells.

Colon cancer is the third most common type in both men and women, with about 150,000 people diagnosed each year.

-- Don Kazak