Revolutionary new light therapy could kill Cancer cells in just 30 minutes, scientists discovered.
In the new method, researchers at the University of Texas at Austin emitted infrared light (a type of light invisible to the eye) from LED bulbs onto test tubes containing human skin cancer or colon cancer cells, as well as healthy human skin cells.
The tubes also contained tin oxide nanoflakes, or SnOx nanoflakes, which were taken up by cancer cells.
Scientists have discovered that when light is shined on cells, the nanoscopic scales absorb it and heat up, becoming “microscopic heaters” that damage cancer cells and cause them to die, while leaving healthy cells largely undamaged.
After 30 minutes, the researchers found that the treatment had killed up to 92 percent of skin cancer cells and 50 percent of colon cancer cells, while healthy cells remained largely unaffected.
The research is still in the very early stages and will likely be several years away before it becomes available, but the team said their research offers hope that a new treatment that directly targets cancer cells may become available. without damaging healthy tissue.
Current cancer treatments include surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation therapy.
However, these methods also harm healthy cells by directly removing them or damaging their DNA and preventing cells from dividing. Chemotherapy and radiation therapy have a number of potentially debilitating side effects, including hair loss, fatigue, nausea, a weakened immune system and pain.
Scientists say they are developing a new method that is still in its very early stages (file photo)
Dr Jean Anne Incorvia, nanodevice researcher at the University Texas in Austin, who led the study, said, “Our goal was to create a treatment that was not only effective, but also safe and affordable.”
“By combining LED light and SnOx nanoflakes, we have developed a method to precisely target cancer cells while leaving healthy cells untouched.”
This is the latest development in photothermal therapy, a method that uses light to kill cancer cells.
The method typically uses specialized lasers, is expensive and is only used in specialized facilities, but the team behind the new method says that because it uses LED lights, it is cheaper and could become more widely available.
The method has only been tested on skin and colon cancer cells, but it is likely that it could be tried to treat a range of other types of cancer.
Every year in the United States, more than 5 million people are diagnosed with skin cancer and about 9,000 die from the disease. Cancer is often detected in its early stages and is easily treated.
Only about four percent of patients are diagnosed at stage four, when the cancer is much more difficult to treat.
When it comes to colon cancer, approximately 152,000 people are diagnosed each year and 50,000 die from the cancer. Unlike skin cancer, this disease often does not cause any symptoms until later stages, when it has spread throughout the body and becomes more difficult to treat.
An estimated 20 to 23 percent of cases are diagnosed at stage four.
Both cancers are on the rise, with the incidence of melanoma, the most aggressive form of skin cancer, increasing from 15.1 cases per 100,000 people in the U.S. in 1999 to 23 per 100,000 in 2021, according to the study. estimates.
Above is an image released by the university that shows how the treatment works.
Colon cancer rates are rising sharply among young people, with the number of cases diagnosed among people aged 20 to 39 increasing by about two percent each year since the mid-1990s.
Latest research published in the journal ACS Nano, found that the temperature of the nanoparticles increased by 66 degrees Fahrenheit (19 degrees Celsius) after 30 minutes of light exposure.
Heating nanoparticles inside a cancer cell leads to its death, since the heat destroys and damages the internal structure of the cell.
Higher temperatures can also cause proteins in a cell to denature, or stop working properly, and destroy its membrane.
It is also possible that cell death may trigger an immune response, prompting the immune system to attack cancer cells.
Scientists hope this therapy could provide a safer alternative to traditional photothermal therapy (PTT), as well as chemotherapy and radiation therapy.
Chemotherapy is injected directly into the veins and spreads throughout the body, potentially damaging healthy cells.
Radiation therapy uses high-energy rays to damage and kill cancer cells by directing radiation directly to tumor cells.
But the rays entering the body can also cause damage to healthy cells, with the radiation potentially destroying their DNA.
Dr Arthur Pinto, a researcher at the University of Porto in Portugal, who was also involved in the study, added: “Our ultimate goal is to make this technology available to patients everywhere, especially in places where access to specialized equipment is limited, with fewer side effects and lower costs.
“In particular, for skin cancer patients, we envision that treatment could one day be moved from the hospital to the patient's home.
“The portable device can be placed on the skin after surgery to irradiate and destroy remaining cancer cells, reducing the risk of recurrence.”
To date, the FDA has not approved photothermal therapy in the United States as a stand-alone cancer treatment, although a number of treatments are being investigated.
However, the agency has approved this treatment for the treatment of certain skin conditions.
