Treatment of brain tumors using technology

American doctors have released a new innovative method to treat brain tumors: using a special fishing rod to remove cancer cells from the brain.

>>>Video: Cure brain tumors by cancer cells

According to Nature Materials, researchers created their special fishing rod system with nanofibers made of polycaprolactone polymer (PCL) , which has a polyurethane coating around it. The surface of nanofibers simulates the condition of nerve cells and blood vessels that often attract cancer cells. The system works by taking advantage of the cancer spread technique to lure out harmful cells.

The researchers say their new technique can effectively treat one of the most dangerous forms of brain cancer - glioblastoma (Glioblastoma) . The treatment of this type of malignant neoplasm called GBM is currently very difficult because malignant tumors often develop in the parts of the brain that doctors are not willing to operate. Even if the initial cancer tumor can be removed, it usually spreads to other sites before being diagnosed.

In the experiment, the team implanted the nano-fishing rod into the brains of the mice that were affected to a tumor that caused GBM in humans. The fishing rods, which are only half the diameter of a human hair, act as a tumor guide, bringing migratory cells to the "tumor collection" gene that contains cyclopamine, which is very toxic to cancer cells.

For comparison, the team also implanted fishing rods that did not contain PCL or a non-structural PCL membrane into the brains of other lab rats, and did not cure some of them. Gel collecting tumor is placed outside the brain.

After 18 days, the team found that, compared to other mice, the size of brain tumors was basically reduced in mice implanted with PCL nanofibers near the tumor. Cancer cells have shifted the length of the fishing rod to the collected gel outside the brain.

The team expects that their technique can control the development of currently irreversible cancer, allowing patients to live normally despite the disease.