Radiation treats cancer in seconds
At least 50% of patients with solid tumors need radiation. The process takes about 15 minutes, sometimes an hour or more, scheduled every day of the week, lasting three to 9 weeks.
Patients and relatives need to sacrifice time and effort to get to the hospital a total of 15 to 40 times.
Constantinos Koumenis, a professor of radiation biology at Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, said traditionally, Radiotherapy is usually provided in small doses to thoroughly kill tumor cells without affecting the surrounding healthy tissues.
However, according to many patients, this method is still exhausting and painful. The patient may have skin burns, dry mouth, difficulty eating, difficulty swallowing, exhaustion.
To overcome that, Professor Koumenis and dozens of research groups tested “super fast radiation”, Use extremely high-speed energy beams to kill tumor cells.
Patients can receive the same amount of radiation as the traditional method in only two to 4 sessions, less than a second at a time.
“The tumor is basically the same vulnerability. What is different is that normal tissue is more resistant to super-fast radiation, “said Professor Koumenis.
He said super-fast radiation protons are huge, extremely expensive and not widely used. However, they can provide radiation at a glance at a dose 1,000 times more than conventional radiation.
X-rays commonly used in traditional methods can damage healthy tissue to the way to and from the tumor ( damaging twice ).
Meanwhile, the proton beams of the new therapy are blocked by the tumor, thus only affecting healthy tissue once.
The team tested super-fast radiation in pets, demonstrating safety and efficiency. The first human trial began two years ago, showing a viable method in 10 patients with metastatic cancer to bone.
Koumenis said more research is needed, but he hopes to use therapy in the treatment of head and neck cancer, preserving taste and salivary glands, Allow patients to maintain the ability to taste and swallow.
Dyeing tumor color for surgery
When on cancer surgery, the doctor uses knowledge and years of experience to know how deep the tumor exists.
They then removed the local lymph nodes and the associated tissue area, creating a cancer “negative flag” ( with only healthy tissue left ).
Next, they sent a sample of “negative flag” to the lab to assess whether the tumor was completely removed.
However, many times, doctors still miss part of the tumor in the sick person’s body, causing cancer to continue to grow and spread.
“It is disappointing that the surgical processes are still the same as 30 years ago,” said Dr. Eben Rosenthal, president of the ENT department at Vanderbilt University, identification.
Rosenthal has developed a tumor highlighting method, which supports the surgery of doctors.
By adding dyes to cancer cells, the vesicles can see more clearly the tumor location in the body, identify small tumors, Can’t look under the naked eye.
After removing the tumor, the cells containing the dye help the doctor mark which part to send to the patient anatomy center, Avoid taking the wrong tissue sample or cutting off more cells than necessary.
However, the approval process is challenging, because this does not have to be commercially profitable.
“I would like to see the method developed in a positive way for patients. My goal is to show the core value, so that when a company decides to invest, they will know it certainly works, “he said.
“Manipulating” the nervous system to fight cancer
According to Jeremy Borniger, assistant professor at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, the tumor is like a newly developed organ in the body.
It has a cellular shape, nourished by vascular insulation, have communication with the immune system like any other organ connected to the nervous system.
For decades, scientists have been exploring cancer treatment by controlling the blood supply to the tumor, Change the way it interacts with the immune system.
Borniger and colleagues focused on the role of nerves.
“They are not only passive. They are important for all stages of cancer development, from start to finish to resistant to therapy and response to therapy, “he said.
Many cancer patients suffer from chronic fatigue, sleep disorders, taste changes and brain fog. These are all problems of the nervous system, Borniger said.
Research on brain tumors has also shown that cancer can affect brain circuits.
Scientists hypothesize that when blocking cancer cell communication with nerves, the tumor may be constrained, less widespread and good response to treatment.
“It is interesting to know that we can regulate a small nucleus in the brain, thereby having a strong impact on physiology and tumor growth.
The task is to find a link between cancer and nerves, find suitable nerve intersections to prevent ‘bad signals’ promote cancer, “said Borniger.
