American scientists have come up with a new method of treating cancer. They aspire to start clinical trials of the method, which has minimum risks of invasion, soon on individuals with prostate cancer.
The process, called irreversible electroporation (IRE), has been devised by Virginia Techbiomedical engineer Rafael V. Davalos and University of California bioengineering professor Boris Rubinsky.
Researchers have been cognizant for a long time now of electroporation increasing the permeability of a cell from none to a reversible opening to an irreversible opening. Since irreversible concept kills the cells, Davalos and Rubinsky used it to target cancer cells.
Davalos, recipient of the Hispanic Engineer National Achievement Award for Most Promising Engineer or Scientist in 2006, said:
IRE removes tumors by irreversibly opening tumor cells through a series of short intense electric pulses from small electrodes placed in or around the body
He further explained that this application creates permanent openings in the pores in the cells of the undesirable tissue which eventually result in the death of the cells eliminating the need to use potentially harmful chemotherapeutic drugs.
The researchers carried out a fruitful operation by using the IRE pulses in the livers of male Sprague-Dawley rats.
We did not use any drugs, the cells were destroyed, and the vessel architecture was preserved,
Davalos said.
Davalos and Rubinsky also told that the new process was more useful compared to the currently available methods for destroying tumors using heat or freezing, because these techniques may damage healthy tissue or leave malignant cells.
The researchers said that the process of IRE enabled them to adjust the electrical current and kill the targeted cells without affecting surrounding tissue or nearby blood vessels.
Th researchers held that IRE shows remarkable promise as a minimally invasive, inexpensive surgical technique to treat cancer. This method is expedient because it is not disturbed by local blood flow and can be supervised and checked by using electrical impedance tomography.
The researchers said that they would keep promoting the promising method to treat cancer, which is being featured in a special issue of Technology in Cancer Research and Treatment.
Indeed, this new development in cancer research may go a long way in negotiating the deadly ailment as it seems full of high potentials.
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