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Cancer Research Electromagnetic waves prevent brain tumors from growing
Electromagnetic waves could slow down fast-growing brain tumors. A team of researchers from Switzerland now discovered a new type of treatment for patients with glioblastoma. These will improve the chances of survival and it will take longer for the brain cancer to re-emerge.
A type of magnetic therapy combined with conventional chemotherapy can prevent a deadly form of brain cancer from growing. This therapy, the so-called treatment of tumor therapy fields (TTFields), is already approved in the United States and could also be useful in the treatment of other cancers, the researcher said. Roger Stupp from the University Hospital Zurich. The results of their study, the scientists published in the journal "Journal of the American Medical Association" (JAMA).
Brain tumors can be prevented from growing by electromagnetic field therapy. (Image: fotoliaxrender / fotolia.com) New treatment of brain tumors
This treatment may soon be a valuable adjunct to many situations where improved local tumor control should be achieved through non-invasive treatment, says Dr. Roger Stup. The device for treatment looks like a swim cap with insulated electrodes on the inner lining. The cap is connected via wires with a backpack in which the battery is located, added the doctor Dr.. John Sampson, Head of Neurosurgery at Duke University School of Medicine. When the cap is placed on a shaved head, the electrons send alternating fields to the human brain. These electrical waves are believed to be able to disrupt cancer cells as they divide. This process slows down the progression of a tumor or even shrinks it. Stupp more.
Study on 700 patients with glioblastoma
The current study focused on people with glioblastoma. The disease is considered by researchers to be the most common malignant brain tumor in adults. Most patients die one or two years after diagnosis. Over the last decade, all attempts to improve outcomes for glioblastoma patients have failed in other major studies, the researchers said. The Swiss research team investigated nearly 700 patients with glioblastoma for their study. All subjects had to complete a chemo- and radiotherapy. Thereafter, they were assigned to one of two subsequent treatments. About two-thirds received the tumor treatment by electromagnetic waves and the chemotherapeutic agent temozolomide. The remaining third of the patients were only treated with temozolomide. In the treatment of tumors with electromagnetic waves, the subjects had to shave their scalp and at least eighteen hours a day wearing the "electrode cap". The device for treatment could be carried at any time, because it is very small and just fit in a backpack. The latest models would weigh just under two kilograms, Dr. Stupp.
Treatment with electromagnetic waves significantly prolongs life expectancy
People who received electromagnetic field treatment were on average three months less cancer-free than those receiving chemotherapy alone. Subjects treated with electromagnetic waves were on average 7.1 months after diagnosis without any new cancer development. If only chemotherapy was used, the cancer developed after just four months on average. The overall survival of the subjects was prolonged by about five months, according to the researchers. In the "Tumor Therapy Fields" group, the subjects still lived for 20.5 months, in the chemotherapy group the average survival expectancy was only 15.6 months. The patients also showed very few problems with side effects, and the fact that the "electrode cap" caused a maximum rash, the researchers report. But this problem is easy to treat with ointments and steroid creams, Dr. Stupp. The results of the study are a big step forward to alleviate the suffering of patients with the most aggressive type of brain tumor, s the conclusion of the physicians. (As)