KILL CANCER: Ultraviolet Light Used To Destroy Tumors In Just Two Hours - Photodynamic Therapy

Heads up on a new treatment:

Outstanding cancer research news! If only they can get this to market quicker to save lives. Ultraviolet light and a chemical causes cancerous cells to self destruct!


www.thesun.co.uk...

By SHAUN WOOLLER
4th July 2016, 1:05 am

A CANCER expert has hit on a way to kill tumours in two hours — using light.
The technique involves a single jab with a chemical then a flash of ultraviolet.


The technique called ‘photodynamic therapy’ kills cancer cells in mice in under two hours using a chemical combination and ultraviolet.

Professor Matthew Gdovin revealed the cells — which he injected with the chemical compound nitrobenzaldehyde — turned too acidic to survive.

His lab tests showed amazing results against triple negative breast cancer — one of the most aggressive forms.

Just one treatment stopped tumours growing, doubling chances of survival.

Prof Gdovin, of the University of Texas at San Antonio, said that because the treatment is non-invasive it is ideal for hard to reach cancers such as in the spine or heart.

Variants of this technology exist today but is not widely known:

www.cancer.org...

a reply to: infolurker

Good to see you back.

Thanks for the thread info, I will have to research it a little more.

a reply to: infolurker

Sure doesn't sound like it's invasive. We shouldn't need to have lab testing or human trials before making it available to current cancer patients! If this treatment has proven to do just that, it's unconscionable that government agencies would keep this treatment from so many cancer patients around the world who can't wait and need help now!

originally posted by: stosh64
a reply to: infolurker

Good to see you back.

Thanks for the thread info, I will have to research it a little more.

Glad to be back. Had a bit of a game addiction problem with Black Desert Online. Luckily that has been cured through boring repetition

a reply to: infolurker

"But PDT has limits, too:

PDT can only treat areas where light can reach. This means it’s mainly used to treat problems on or just under the skin, or in the lining of organs that can be reached with a light source. Because light can’t travel very far through body tissues, PDT can’t be used to treat large cancers or cancers that have grown deeply into the skin or other organs.
PDT can’t be used to treat cancers that have spread to many places.
The drugs used for PDT leave people very sensitive to light for some time, so special precautions must be taken after the drugs are put in or on the body.
PDT can’t be used in people who have certain blood diseases, such as any of the porphyrias (a rare group of diseases that affect the skin or nervous system) or people who are allergic to porphyrins. This allergy is rare, but it may happen in those who have gotten porphyrins in the past."

Great for skin cancer but perhaps not for the more invasive cancers..

a reply to: chrismarco

Well, if we can snake stints through arteries, I think we can insert a light pretty much anywhere in the body. Also, upping the light intensity, we can penetrate deep into tissue.

I hate to be the bubble burster here but from Wikipedia:

Porfimer sodium


Porfimer sodium, sold as Photofrin, is a photosensitizer used in photodynamic therapy and radiation therapy and for palliative treatment of obstructing endobronchial non-small cell lung carcinoma and obstructing esophageal cancer.

Porfimer is a mixture of oligomers formed by ether and ester linkages of up to eight porphyrin units.[1] In practice, a red light source emitting at 630 nm is used to excite the Porfimer oligomers.[2]

Porfimer is Haematoporphyrin Derivative (HpD) (See PDT).

Approvals and indications[edit]

It was approved in Canada in 1993 for the treatment of bladder cancer.[2] It was approved in Japan in 1994 (for early stage lung cancer?).[2] It was approved by the U.S. FDA in December 1995 for esophageal cancer, and in 1998, it was approved for the treatment of early non-small cell lung cancer.[2]

In August 2003 the FDA approved its use for Barrett's esophagus.[3]
en.wikipedia.org...

It does sound like a great treatment for certain types of cancer. The problem is getting to deep areas, like organs where it is more difficult to get the UV. But since they use fiber optics, I don't see why this is such a problem. They've had plenty of time to develop the treatments, since 1993 at least. I'm surprised I haven't heard of this. Why isn't it used to treat skin cancers?

Thanks for the info OP.

a reply to: infolurker

I thought high intensity UV light exposure CAUSES CANCER? Or am I wrong on this?

a reply to: Skywatcher2011

Yeah, but it's a risk calculated based on lifetime exposure. Many (most?) people go their entire lives exposed to UV rays without developing cancer.
Just like people can get an x-ray or CT scan, but it increases cancer risk later in life.