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New, non-invasive method developed to wipe out cancerous tumors

New treatment, requiring only a single dose and a beam of light, can kill up to 95 percent of cancer cells in two hours

Date:
June 27, 2016
Source:
University of Texas at San Antonio
Summary:
A newly patented method to kill cancer cells has been developed by an American lab. This discovery may tremendously help people with inoperable or hard-to-reach tumors, as well as young children stricken with cancer.
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FULL STORY

Matthew Gdovin, an associate professor in the UTSA Department of Biology, has developed a newly patented method to kill cancer cells. His discovery, described in a new study in The Journal of Clinical Oncology, may tremendously help people with inoperable or hard-to-reach tumors, as well as young children stricken with cancer.

Gdovin's top-tier research involves injecting a chemical compound, nitrobenzaldehyde, into the tumor and allowing it to diffuse into the tissue. He then aims a beam of light at the tissue, causing the cells to become very acidic inside and, essentially, commit suicide. Within two hours, Gdovin estimates up to 95 percent of the targeted cancer cells are dead.

"Even though there are many different types of cancers, the one thing they have in common is their susceptibility to this induced cell suicide," he said.

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 tumor 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," he said. "Instead, the cancer latches onto the blood vessel and uses it to make the tumor larger and larger."

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. Gdovin's method, however, is more precise and can target just the tumor.

In the past two years, he's developed his photodynamic cancer therapy to the point where it's non-invasive. It now requires just an injection of the nitrobenzaldehyde fluid followed by a flash of an ultraviolet light to cause the cancer-killing reaction. Gdovin has now begun to test the method on drug-resistant cancer cells to make his therapy as strong as possible. He's also started to develop a nanoparticle that can be injected into the body to target metastasized 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 the cancer-killing nanoparticle.

Gdovin hopes that his non-invasive method will help cancer patients with tumors 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 goes along with it, or children who are at risk of developing mutations from radiation as they grow older.

"There are so many types of cancer for which the prognosis is very poor," he said. "We're thinking outside the box and finding a way to do what for many people is simply impossible."


Story Source:

Materials provided by University of Texas at San Antonio. Original written by Joanna Carver. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


Journal Reference:

  1. Nuha Buchanan Kadri, Matthew Gdovin, Nizar Alyassin, Justin Avila, Aryana Cruz, Louis Cruz, Steve Holliday, Zachary Jordan, Cameron Ruiz and Jennifer Watts. hotodynamic acidification therapy to reduce triple negative breast cancer growth in vivo. Journal of Clinical Oncology, Vol 34, No 15_suppl (May 20 Supplement), 2016: e12574

Cite This Page:

University of Texas at San Antonio. "New, non-invasive method developed to wipe out cancerous tumors." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 27 June 2016. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/06/160627214423.htm>.
University of Texas at San Antonio. (2016, June 27). New, non-invasive method developed to wipe out cancerous tumors. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 28, 2024 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/06/160627214423.htm
University of Texas at San Antonio. "New, non-invasive method developed to wipe out cancerous tumors." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/06/160627214423.htm (accessed March 28, 2024).

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