New cancer treatment delivers weeks of radiation therapy in a second

Source: New Atlas Date: January 9th, 2020 Author: Michel Irving Radiation therapy is currently our best shot at treating cancer, but it’s far from a perfect solution. It takes a course of weeks or even months, during which time healthy cells often become unfortunate collateral damage. But what if the whole course of treatment could be over in under a second? Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have now shown just how this might be feasible. With the right tools, cancer cells on their own aren’t all that difficult to kill. Radiation or drugs can be administered to kill them off relatively easily – the problem is tumors like to hide in crowds, and whatever weapons we fire at them also tend to hit healthy cells around them. Because radiation therapy takes weeks, there are more opportunities for those healthy cells to be affected, leading to all kinds of health problems even if the cancer is destroyed. That’s where FLASH radiotherapy comes in. This emerging form of treatment involves giving a patient in one second a similar amount of radiation as they would normally receive over weeks. Previous experiments have shown that the effect on the cancer itself is basically the same, but the collateral damage to healthy tissue is drastically reduced. For the new study, researchers at Pennsylvania University found that by changing the type of fundamental particle used, they could make FLASH radiotherapy far more effective. Normally, electrons are the particles of choice for this method, but they [...]

2020-01-10T10:50:29-07:00January, 2020|Oral Cancer News|

Doctors try CRISPR gene editing for cancer, a 1st in the US

Source: AP News Date: 11/6/19 Author: Marilynn Marchione The first attempt in the United States to use a gene editing tool called CRISPR against cancer seems safe in the three patients who have had it so far, but it’s too soon to know if it will improve survival, doctors reported Wednesday. The doctors were able to take immune system cells from the patients’ blood and alter them genetically to help them recognize and fight cancer, with minimal and manageable side effects. The treatment deletes three genes that might have been hindering these cells’ ability to attack the disease, and adds a new, fourth feature to help them do the job. “It’s the most complicated genetic, cellular engineering that’s been attempted so far,” said the study leader, Dr. Edward Stadtmauer of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. “This is proof that we can safely do gene editing of these cells.” After two to three months, one patient’s cancer continued to worsen and another was stable. The third patient was treated too recently to know how she’ll fare. The plan is to treat 15 more patients and assess safety and how well it works. “It’s very early, but I’m incredibly encouraged by this,” said one independent expert, Dr. Aaron Gerds, a Cleveland Clinic cancer specialist. Other cell therapies for some blood cancers “have been a huge hit, taking diseases that are uncurable and curing them,” and the gene editing may give a way to improve on those, he said. Gene editing is [...]

2019-11-06T12:30:16-07:00November, 2019|Oral Cancer News|

Oral cancer failed to silence Sen. Diane Allen

Source: The Philadelphia Inquirer Author: Cynthia Burton As Diane Allen lay on a gurney at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, she knew she had to learn to let go. She had found the right doctor, the right hospital. She told relatives and close friends she was about to undergo surgery for an aggressive form of oral cancer. Part of her tongue and part of the floor of her mouth were to be removed in that November surgery. Her doctors had told her she probably would never speak normally again. So, the woman who had made a living talking - as a television news reporter and anchor in Philadelphia and Chicago and most recently as a Republican New Jersey state senator - probably would lose one of her greatest assets. But that's not what made her tear up the most as she recently recalled her feelings over the last few months. The hardest part was the thought of never again being able to read to her three grandchildren. She tried to take control of that, too. She recorded CDs for them, reading Goodnight Moon and "A Visit From St. Nicholas." Everything she could control was under control. And then, as she lay on the gurney, she gave up control. She felt a sense of calm. Allen, a Quaker, said, "I learned submission for the first time in my life, to rest in the Lord." She woke up able to speak, not well, but people could understand her. After months of [...]

2010-05-04T20:45:10-07:00May, 2010|Oral Cancer News|
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