New Light-Based Cancer Treatment Could Destroy Tumours Without Harming Healthy Cells

A new approach to treating cancer could revolutionize the field, as researchers have developed a promising new light-based treatment that can target and kill cancer cells while leaving healthy ones unharmed. The treatment, which relies on inexpensive and accessible LED light combined with nanoscopic flakes of tin oxide, has shown remarkable results in laboratory studies, destroying up to 92% of skin cancer cells and 50% of colorectal cancer cells within 30 minutes. This technique offers a safer and less invasive alternative to chemotherapy and radiotherapy, which often damage healthy cells alongside cancerous ones, leaving patients exhausted and vulnerable to long-term side effects.

Key Takeaways:

• The new light-based treatment uses near-infrared LED light in combination with SnOx nanoflakes to kill cancer cells while leaving healthy ones unharmed.
• The treatment has shown remarkable results in laboratory studies, destroying up to 92% of skin cancer cells and 50% of colorectal cancer cells within 30 minutes.
• The use of inexpensive and accessible LED light makes this treatment more cost-effective and accessible than traditional photothermal systems that rely on lasers.
• The targeted heating process, known as photothermal therapy, relies on a physical rather than chemical mechanism, which makes it less likely to harm healthy cells.
• The researchers' custom near-infrared LED heating system activates SnOx nanoflakes that heat and neutralise cancer cells, making this treatment particularly promising for cancers such as melanoma and basal cell carcinoma.
• The innovation opens the door to combination therapies, making cancer cells more vulnerable to other forms of therapy, such as immunotherapy or targeted drugs.
• The potential for accessibility is one of the most exciting aspects of this work, as LED-based devices could be used in low-resource regions where access to cancer care is limited.
• Safety is another major advantage, as Photothermal therapy confines its effects to the illuminated site and produces no systemic toxicity, no cumulative organ damage and minimal discomfort.

Statistics:

• 92% of skin cancer cells were destroyed within 30 minutes of treatment.
• 50% of colorectal cancer cells were destroyed within 30 minutes of treatment.
• Lab studies showed that healthy human skin cells were unaffected by the treatment.
• Tin oxide is a stable, biocompatible material already used in electronics.
• The researchers' custom near-infrared LED heating system is designed to activate SnOx nanoflakes that heat and neutralise cancer cells.

Sources:

• The Conversation -- UK -- By Justin Stebbing, Professor of Biomedical Sciences, Anglia Ruskin University
• How a new light-based cancer treatment could destroy tumours without harming healthy cells -- using LEDs
• https://theconversation.com/how-a-new-light-based-cancer-treatment-could-destroy-tumours-without-harming-healthy-cells-using-leds-267556