Reduced tumor cell transfer with contact neodymium-yttrium-aluminium garnett laser scalpels.

The local recurrence of tumor growth after surgery is thought, in part, to be a consequence of seeding of tumor cells from the primary lesion. This study was directed at determining if the contact Nd:YAG laser provides any advantage over the use of traditional scalpel dissection for tumor resection. Five human tumor tissue culture cell lines were studied in this report. They included MCF-7 (breast), HeLa (cervical), SW-780 (bladder), HT29 (colon), and A549 (lung). Using a scalpel blade or contact laser scalpel (with or without laser energy), the ability to transfer viable cells from dense cell stocks to new tissue culture wells was tested. Using the A549 cell line, the extent that these instruments were able to "seed" tumor cells was also assessed in a soft agar, in vitro, "incision" model. Results from these studies suggest that the contact laser scalpel has a significantly lower potential to transmit tumor cells, when compared to traditional scalpel blades.