| The “sniper treatment” could be available to patients in as little as five years.
In an article published in Nature-Physics, researchers revealed they have found a way to kill cancer cells by using a single blast of ultrasound.
The technique was discovered using photographic techniques originally developed by the Army and it is hoped it could lead to the end of invasive surgery and extensive drug treatment for cancer sufferers.
Previous research had discovered that gas bubbles cluster round cancer cells if injected intravenously. Scientists at Dundee University then found that if these bubbles are stimulated by a microsecond burst of high intensity ultrasound energy, they puncture the cancer cells and kill them.
The research has been led by Dr Paul Campbell from the university and Professor Sir Alfred Cuschieri at the Department of Surgery and Molecular Oncology at Ninewells Hospital.
They were able to establish the new system by utilising an ultra-fast imaging system that can take photographs at one million frames per second. This had originally been developed by the army to observe the impact of ballistic shells and bullets with armour plates.
Dr Campbell said, “Conventional cancer treatment usually requires surgery to cut out the diseased tissues, causing significant trauma, pain and discomfort to the patient, often delaying recovery for an extended period of many months.
“This new ultrasound treatment can focus energy directly to a tumour site inside the body and deliver a single blast of energy without harming the surrounding tissue.”
It is hoped the treatment could eventually make systemic chemotherapy a thing of the past.
“It is a sniper treatment for cancer,” said Dr Campbell.
“The ultrasound-activated bubbles target with single cell precision, so that the technique overall is a little like sniping at specific cancer cells, whilst ensuring healthy tissues remain untouched.”
The research is the culmination of a three-year project funded by the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council but Dr Campbell believes that more funding is needed to ensure the full benefits of the treatment are realised. |
