Missile Technology To Cure Breast Cancer
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According to the American Cancer Society, breast cancer is the second largest cancer killer of women behind skin cancer. It is the leading cause of death for women between the ages of 35-44. As many as 40,000 women are suspected to have died of breast cancer in 2003 (data from Blue Cross Blue Shield).
On successfully detecting breast cancer, there are several treatment options available (and they vary based on the severity of the disease):
- Removal of a single tumor, referred to as a lumpectomy, is usually limited to early stage cancers.
- Mastectomy, or removal of the affected breast, is also an option.
Other surgical options have been proposed for the treatment of breast cancer that aim to preserve the affected breast, including focused microwave thermotherapy. This procedure has been investigated as a type of heat therapy for treating either primary breast cancer in conjunction with lumpectomy in patients with early stage breast cancer or as a technique to reduce tumor size in conjunction with preoperative chemotherapy in patients with advanced breast cancer. It is challenging to deliver the heat to just the cancer cells without affecting or overheating the normal cells around it.
In his book titled Breast Cancer Treatment by Focused Microwave Thermotherapy, Alan J. Fenn discusses the technique of microwave thermotherapy, which he invented. The book mentions promising results from the latest clinical trials of the therapy.
(Image courtesy / Lincoln Laboratory)
In this new technique, cells containing high amounts of water and ions, or electrically charged atoms are heated and killed using the microwaves, particularly with focused microwave energy. Cancer cells have a high content of both. This preoperative focused microwave thermotherapy technology is being explored in combination with standard breast conservation techniques to increase tumor cell kill, shrink tumors, improve surgical margins, increase the use of breast conservation, and reduce tumor recurrence.
Microwave therapy works on the principle that microwave energy excites water molecules to create heat. The breast to be treated is compressed between two microwave emitters and a surgical probe is placed within the breast to monitor the temperature of the tissue. When activated, the emitters cover a large volume of breast tissue with microwave energy. In breast cancer, the tumor tissue contains a higher volume of water than the surrounding tissue. The cancerous tissue heats more rapidly and is destroyed while leaving the healthy tissue relatively undisturbed.
For details on clinical trial results and more information about the book, visit the source of this article here.
For more information on breast cancer please visit BreastCancer.org.
Source: New book documents MIT breast cancer therapy
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