Exclusive: experts believe new form of photoimmunotherapy may become fifth major cancer treatment
Scientists have successfully developed a revolutionary cancer treatment that lights up and wipes out microscopic cancer cells, in a breakthrough that could enable surgeons to more effectively target and destroy the disease in patients.
The light-activated therapy forces cancer cells to glow in the dark, helping surgeons remove more of the tumours compared with existing techniques – and then kills off remaining cells within minutes once the surgery is complete. In a world-first trial in mice with glioblastoma, one of the most common and aggressive types of brain cancer, scans revealed the novel treatment lit up even the tiniest cancer cells to help surgeons remove them – and then wiped out those left over.
The therapy combines a special fluorescent dye with a cancer-targeting compound. In the trial in mice, the combination was shown to dramatically improve the visibility of cancer cells during surgery and, when later activated by near-infrared light, to trigger an anti-tumour effect. “Multidisciplinary working is critical to finding innovative solutions to address the challenges we face in cancer research, diagnosis and treatment – and this study is a great example,” said Prof Axel Behrens, the leader of the cancer stem cell team at the ICR and scientific director of the Cancer Research UK Convergence Science Centre.
When tumours grow in sensitive areas of the brain such as the motor cortex, which is involved in the planning and control of voluntary movements, glioblastoma surgery can leave behind tumour cells that can be very hard to treat – and which mean the disease can come back more aggressively later.
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