Researchers
have developed a new, non-invasive method that can kill cancer cells in
two hours, an advance that may significantly help people with
inoperable or hard-to-reach tumours as well as young children stricken
with the deadly disease.
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New method can kill cancer cells in two hours, shows study
AP
The method involves injecting a chemical compound, nitrobenzaldehyde,
into the tumour and allowing it to diffuse into the tissue. File Photo
The non-invasive technique involves injecting nitrobenzaldehyde into the tumour
Researchers have developed a new, non-invasive method that can kill
cancer cells in two hours, an advance that may significantly help people
with inoperable or hard-to-reach tumours as well as young children
stricken with the deadly disease.
The method involves injecting a chemical compound, nitrobenzaldehyde,
into the tumour and allowing it to diffuse into the tissue.
A beam of light is then aimed at the tissue, causing the cells to become
very acidic inside and, essentially, “commit suicide”, researchers
said.
Within two hours, up to 95 per cent of the targeted cancer cells are dead or are estimated to be dead, they said.
Cell suicide
“Though there are many different types of cancers, the one thing they have in common is their susceptibility to this induced cell suicide,” said Matthew Gdovin from University of Texas in the U.S.
“Though there are many different types of cancers, the one thing they have in common is their susceptibility to this induced cell suicide,” said Matthew Gdovin from University of Texas in the U.S.
Mr. Gdovin tested his method against triple negative breast cancer, one
of the most aggressive types of cancer and one of the hardest to treat.
The prognosis for triple negative breast cancer is usually very poor.
After one treatment in the laboratory, he was able to stop the tumour from growing and double chances of survival in mice.
“All forms of cancer attempt to make cells acidic on the outside as a
way to attract the attention of a blood vessel, which attempts to get
rid of the acid,” said Mr. Gdovin.
“Instead, the cancer latches onto the blood vessel and uses it to make the tumour larger and larger,” he added.
Chemotherapy treatments target all cells in the body, and certain
chemotherapeutics try to keep cancer cells acidic as a way to kill the
cancer. This is what causes many cancer patients to lose their hair and
become sickly. Mr. Gdovin’s method, however, is more precise and can
target just the tumour.
He has now begun to test the method on drug-resistant cancer cells to
make his therapy as strong as possible. He has also started to develop a
nanoparticle that can be injected into the body to target metastasised
cancer cells.
The nanoparticle is activated with a wavelength of light that it can
pass harmlessly through skin, flesh and bone and still activate the
cancer-killing nanoparticle, said Mr. Gdovin.
He hopes that his non-invasive method will help cancer patients with
tumours in areas that have proven problematic for surgeons, such as the
brain stem, aorta or spine.
It could also help people who have received the maximum amount of
radiation treatment and can no longer cope with the scarring and pain
that go along with it, or children who are at risk of developing
mutations from radiation as they grow older, he said.
The findings were published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
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