Radar technology helps repel breast cancer

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) radar radiotherapy for breast cancer can significantly increase the meaning of chemotherapy. The results are published online in the Journal of Cancer Therapy based on treatment techniques for 4 recent test cases.

According to this study, large tumors that are treated in combination with chemotherapy and microwaves (shortwave) have made tumors half shrink compared to tumors merely. treatment with chemotherapy. Microwave wave treatment is based on missile detection technology developed from MIT in the late 1980s.

"It heats tumors and greatly increases the effectiveness of chemotherapy , " said Dr. William C. Dooley, director of the University of Oklahoma cancer surgery department and head of the research team. know. " Tumors shrink faster & get killed faster with the addition of microwaves to healing with chemotherapy ."

According to the National Cancer Institute, in 2007, about 178,000 women and 2,000 men were diagnosed with breast cancer. It is estimated that in 2007 about 40,000 women and 450 men died of this disease.

The most recent tests were conducted on 15 patients who were screened twice for microwave heat waves, also called thermal therapy, in combination with 4 courses of chemotherapy before surgery. The goal is to make the tumors shrink large enough to retain a woman's breasts. Surgeons said 14 tumors had shrunk enough to do this.

The image shows a similarity in the process of detecting and destroying enemy missiles by using MIT's target detection radar with the use of microwave energy waves to attack malignant tumors.(Photo: Web.MIT.edu)

In 1990, Dr. Alan J. Fenn, a longtime member of MIT's Lincoln lab, discovered a way to cure cancer with heat from a converged microwave system to detect enemy missiles. & enemy jamming signals."This is a very simple idea that can be used to treat cancers including breast cancer , " Fenn said.

According to Dr. Fenn, microwaves emitted from both ends of the device are located near the chest, destroying tumor tissue while still not harming normal tissues of the breast by the amount of water and ions in cancer cells. higher than usual.When shortwaves carry energy through the tumor, the water molecules begin to move & thanks to friction that generates heat. This process gradually raises the temperature of cancer cells to a " high fever " level of at least 180 degrees Fahrenheit in most cases and destroys them .

"This treatment does not lead to injuries," said study co-author Mary Beth Tomaselli, Medical Director - Center for Breast Cancer Detection in Coral Springs. "The patients were treated with an optimistic result & very few side effects ".

It was the fourth trial of this therapy, which began in 1999. In Phase I - safety tests were conducted with single microwave waves, researchers found tumors. Both small and large reduce the size from 30 to 60%. In Phase II - experimenting with small tumors, researchers increased the amount of microwaves until 100% of tumor cells were killed, before the patient was undergoing " lumpectomy " (lumpectomy is a procedure). General surgery is used to operate individual lumps, usually a benign tumor or other tumors, for a man or woman with breast cancer.

The same test was done with tumors at an early stage, after surgery, none of the patients experienced tumor growth again. This is important because surgery or radiotherapy for cancer patients is often recommended to limit the use of cancer patients with too many separate and dense lumps to be able to carry on. currently performing ' lumpectomy '.

Cancer treatment centers, in their most recent studies, focused on large tumors, including Harbor-UCLA Medical center in Torrance, California; University of Oklahoma in Oklahoma City; Comprehensive Breast Center in Coral Springs, Fla; St. Hospital Joseph's Hospital in Orange County, California; There are also 5 other locations. MIT's microwave heat wave technology has been implemented in Celsion machines and licensed by Canada for limited use, currently operating at 10 licensing points.

The team was allowed by the Canadian Health Institute to test this method on a large scale. Researchers will conduct randomized trials in 128 breast cancer patients with large tumor sizes. Patients will be treated with chemotherapy or chemotherapy in combination with microwaves at one of 5 practice centers in the US and Canada.

"Patients who achieve good results in cancer treatment, at least with breast cancer, are patients treated with a variety of different methods, including chemotherapy, surgery, radiation. , and hormone, "said Dr. Hernan, assistant professor of surgery at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance. "Each of these treatments will be more or less effective. Heat therapy is one of the tools that help us fight against this evil disease."

Co-author of the article in the Journal of Cancer Sciences is Dr. Jay K. Harness working at St. Hospital. Joseph, Orange County, California state.

The Celsion machine is expected to be used in therapeutic thermal treatments for breast cancer.(Photo: Web.MIT.edu)

According to MIT News Office (According to MIT News Office)