Could Hair Loss and Nausea be Old News in Radiotherapy?

If your wellness is damaged by cancer, radiation therapy can really take its toll on your wellbeing. Side effects such as hair loss and nausea are common outcomes of radiotherapy, but now scientists have developed a new technique which can eliminate cancer without the debilitating side effects.

Developed by Professor M. Frederick Horne, who was recently awarded the prestigious National Medal of Science Award by President Obama, the new therapy has undergone trials in the US, published in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, in which the cancer cells of mice were killed successfully. Now the team of scientists from the University of Missouri is seeking funding in order to test the treatment on humans.

As it stands, radiotherapy damages some of your healthy cells, as well as destroying the cancerous ones, which is why you can commonly experience side effects such as hair loss, diarrhoea, nausea and sore skin. Hair follicles, for example, are usually destroyed during the radiotherapy process because they are made up of rapidly growing cells. This makes them akin to cancer tumours, as cancer cells grow faster than normal cells and, in the process, absorb more materials than normal cells, which starves them of oxygen. This factor that cancer cells and hair follicles share make it difficult for radiotherapy to differentiate between the two.

However, Professor Hawthorne’s team took advantage of the absorbent cells by forcing them to take in a specially engineered boron chemical. Boron, often found in soil, can play a strengthening role in the cell walls of all plants when absorbed in small amounts and so Professor Hawthorne designed a boron chemical which his team get the cancer cells to take in. Then, these boron-infused cancer cells were exposed to neutrons, a subatomic particle, so that the boron atom would shatter and tear apart the cancer cells, whilst sparing neighbouring healthy cells. This is what eliminated the side effects.

According to Professor Hawthorne, ‘Since the 1930s scientists have sought success with a cancer treatment known as boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT). Our team finally found the way to make BNCT work by taking advantage of a cancer cell’s biology with nanochemistry. A wide variety of cancers can be attacked with our BNCT technique. The technique worked excellently in mice. We are ready to move on to trials in larger animals, then people. However, before we can start treating humans, we will need to build suitable equipment and facilities. When it is built, MU will have the first radiation therapy of this kind in the world.’

Could Hair Loss and Nausea be Old News in Radiotherapy?

Categories: boron chemical, cancer cells, hair follicles, hair loss, healthy cells, normal cells, professor hawthorne, radiation therapy, radiotherapy, Research, Side Effects

Can New Type of Radiotherapy Cut Treatment Time by 80%?

If you have or are at risk to cancer-female/">breast cancer, one major wellness decision you have to make is whether or not you keep your breasts. Patients who choose to have them removed have been shown to reduce their risk of the disease spreading, but if you do opt to keep your breasts, you may qualify for a new treatment that cuts six weeks of radiotherapy down to just one single session of up to 40 minutes.

Unlike conventional radiotherapy, the new intra-operative radiotherapy does not involve the entire breast, but instead targets the tumour site after the tumour has been removed. The treatment is being offered at the National Cancer Centre Singapore (NCCS), and doctors there have commented that it may persuade more patients to choose to have their tumour excised (a lumpectomy) rather than a mastectomy, where the entire breast, including the tumour, is removed.

According to Dr Wong Fuh Yong, an NCCS consultant in the radiation oncology department, ‘These women choose a mastectomy because it’s simpler and faster. Despite an innate sadness over losing their breast, they choose convenience over bodily function. So we hope to make that choice easier.’ However, this choice will only be made easier for a small number of early-stage cancer-female/">breast cancer patients. In order to qualify for the treatment, the diameter of your tumour must be smaller than 3cm, and the cancer should not have spread to your lymph nodes. You also need to be over the age of 50.

Surgical oncologist Ong Kong Wee added that your suitability for the procedure will also be determined by how aggressive your tumour is, and how well you respond to hormone treatment. However, Dr Ho Gay Hui, an NCCS senior consultant, commented that the good thing about this development in cancer treatment is that it, even if you don’t qualify, trying to find out if you do could also benefit your wellbeing. He said that as the treatment is known to be especially effective for women whose cancers are detected early, it ‘reinforces the need for regular screening… before the cancer gets out of hand.’

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Can New Type of Radiotherapy Cut Treatment Time by 80%?

Categories: breast cancer, New Treatment, radiotherapy

Lower Dose Radiotherapy Could Revolutionise Cancer Treatment

Fewer sessions of radiotherapy for breast cancer could have more impact on sufferers’ wellbeing than longer treatment cycles, according to recent research. Depending on where we live in the world, techniques to get rid of breast cancer vary, and this new study could see us being offered cycles of radiotherapy that have a more positive impact on wellbeing than current treatment methods.

International standards

Women who get breast cancer usually get offered radiotherapy to shrink tumours and remove tissue that could move throughout the body creating more malignant lumps. But radiotherapy can have side effects that continue to affect our wellbeing for years after tumours have been removed. Outside of the UK, we may be offered 25 cycles of radiotherapy, as this has been linked with a good prognosis, but in the UK we might instead get 15 cycles of the treatment.

This could fall even further if clinics take into account the results from a Cancer Research UK study that looked at relapse rates in breast cancer sufferers. The survey showed that few women who had lower dose treatments (given over fewer radiotherapy cycles) got cancer again in the affected breast. Leading researchers to say that lower doses could be preferable to many.

Why less?

Radiotherapy can effectively get rid of breast cancer tumours, but patients can suffer from tiredness, pain, redness and swelling. Sometimes the treatment can change skin tissue so that it can’t be stretched for re-constructive purposes. Other side effects include nerve damage and changes to the colour of skin. Lower doses of radiotherapy given over fewer sessions could reduce these side effects, making cancer treatment have less of a negative impact on wellness. Chief investigator for the survey Professor John Yarnold explains that three-weeks of radiotherapy can be as effective as five weeks, but may result in less pain and fewer hospital visits for breast cancer sufferers.

Lower Dose Radiotherapy Could Revolutionise Cancer Treatment

Categories: cancer, radiotherapy, treatment