Cancer sniper: The most common way to fight cancer has become more accurate and safer

Cancer remains one of the most serious medical problems, and the main method of fighting cancer is chemotherapy. It is a powerful tool, but it also has its drawbacks and serious side effects. New Atlas writes that the new development of scientists will allow us to adjust the accuracy of chemotherapy, which will avoid many undesirable consequences.

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Imagine painting a wall with a wide brush – it covers a large area, but it can also go where it is not needed, covering the surrounding surfaces with paint. That’s chemotherapy in a nutshell: it’s powerful, but can sometimes attack healthy cells, causing side effects like hair loss and nausea. Despite the increasing number of treatment options available to fight cancer, the widespread use of chemotherapy is only expected to increase; The number of people needing chemotherapy is expected to increase by 53% by 2040. Therefore, improving the accuracy of this treatment method is a priority.

In early 2020, some researchers attempted to do this by combining chemotherapy drugs with laser light, which activates the drugs directly at the tumor site. This approach worked, but it had a limitation: The laser could only activate drugs a few millimeters below the skin, limiting its use in deeper tumors.

A group of experts from the City University of Hong Kong came to the rescue. They turned to sound rather than laser. Using sound waves, they developed a method that allows chemotherapy to be precisely targeted while sparing surrounding healthy tissue.

How did they manage to achieve something like this using normal audio? To achieve this goal, the authors developed a specific compound called cyanineplatin that localizes to the periphery of tumor lesions. This is a prodrug compound that acts like a sleeping pill waiting for a nudge to wake up and start working. In this case, the driving force was ultrasonic waves. When exposed to these waves, cyanineplatinum is converted to carboplatin, a commonly used chemotherapy drug. This change destroys a critical part of the cancer cell, causing it to die.

In laboratory experiments, the technique reduced the viability of cancer cells with tumor thicknesses of about 10 millimeters by more than half and by a third in tumors twice that thickness. When tested on mice, two tumors were completely destroyed after six days and the growth of other tumors was reduced.

One of the distinguishing features of this method is its accuracy. “Our approach concentrates sound waves on a small area, activating drugs exactly where they are needed. This provides targeted and effective treatment with fewer side effects,” explained Zhu Guanyu, one of the study’s authors.

One advantage of this development is that the cyanine-platinum compound glows so doctors can use it as a mapping tool. This means they can see a three-dimensional image of the tumor, precisely target drug particles, and track in real time where the drugs are going.

This research opens new and large-scale horizons in cancer treatment. By precisely targeting tumors while sparing healthy cells, it offers a glimpse of a future in which chemotherapy is not only effective but also gentler for patients. The next step for scientists is to conduct more extensive testing and develop the method for wider use.

Previously Focus wrote about a symptom of cancer that people often overlook. In most cases, the symptoms of cancer are easy to spot, but not all of them go unnoticed by people.

Moreover Focus He wrote that a regular alcohol analyzer can detect cancer at an early stage. Cancer’s new enemy isn’t just a drug, but something that has long been a routine test for drunk drivers.

This material is for informational purposes only and does not contain advice that may affect your health. If you are having problems, contact an expert.