Wireless device to provide new options for colorectal cancer treatment
Date:
April 25, 2022
Source:
Texas A&M University
Summary:
A team is developing an intracavity device that will allow doctors
to eliminate leftover cancer cells during surgery, reducing the
need for additional treatments such as chemotherapy.
FULL STORY ==========================================================================
For those diagnosed with colorectal cancer, surgery has been the only
option that offers a solution. Unfortunately, surgery is frequently
complicated by disease recurrence at the site of the original
cancer when microscopic cancer cells are left behind at the time of
surgery. Chemotherapy is a treatment option that is often given in
conjunction with surgery, although it can lead to toxic side effects.
==========================================================================
Dr. Sung II Park, assistant professor in the Department of Electrical
and Computer Engineering and researcher in the Center for Remote Health Technologies and Systems at Texas A&M University, and his team are
working to develop a low cost, minimally invasive wireless device that
offers precise, safe treatment options for cancers.
The researchers will utilize photodynamic therapy (PDT) during surgery
by using a photosensitizer -- a drug activated by light -- to kill the
cancer cells.
During this process, surgeons will be able to remove the bulk of the
tumor, then fully irradiate the tumor bed when the photosensitizer is
activated by the light. This combination would result in a complete
treatment in a safe and effective way with no toxic side effects.
"The biocompatible, miniaturized implantable LED device will enable
light dosing and PDT that is tailored to the individual tumor response,"
Park said.
In the long term, the work will result in a platform that has the
potential to provide clinical-quality health monitoring capabilities for continuous use beyond the confines of traditional hospital or laboratory facilities; it will also allow for treatment options to prevent the
development of additional malignancy and therefore significantly improve
the quality of life for people with cancer. This type of platform would
also reduce the huge economic burden on oncology resources, which totaled
$167 billion U.S. dollars in 2020 alone.
In 2022, projected global oncology spending will reach $206 billion,
a 23.35% increase.
Further details about their device are published in the April issue of
Nature Communications.
Excluding skin cancers, colorectal cancer is the third most common
cancer worldwide, according to the American Institute for Cancer
Research. According to the American Cancer Society, this year, an
estimated 149,500 adults in the United States will be diagnosed with
colorectal cancer and it's expected to cause about 52,980 deaths.
Although photodynamic therapy has been shown to be effective in many
solid tumor cancers, its clinical application has been limited by an
incomplete understanding of the differing response of cancer and normal
tissue, and a lack of methods to monitor tumor response and adjust light
dosage accordingly.
To address this gap, Park and his team have proposed a two-step procedure.
First, the photosensitizer drug is administered, which is preferentially
taken up by the tumor cells, and then the tumor is illuminated by
non-thermal light at a wavelength that matches an absorption spectrum
of the drug. Activation of the drug induces a photochemical reaction
that triggers tumor cell death.
"The intracavity device will provide a minimally invasive, biocompatible platform for light detection of residual cancers and delivery to tumor
cells located in any part of the body, suggesting it could make an impact
in the areas of breast, kidney, lung, pancreatic, prostate, ovarian and
rare cancers," Park said.
Other contributors to the research include several well-known researchers
from the electrical and computer engineering department, the University
of Leeds and Sun Moon University.
This work was supported by grants from the interdisciplinary X-Grants
Program, part of the President's Excellence Fund at Texas A&M, the 2018 National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression Young Investigator Awards from the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation and
the Precise Advanced Technologies and Health Systems for Underserved Populations Engineering Research Center. This work was also supported
by a Wellcome Trust Institutional Strategic Support Fund Fellowship,
a National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Research Professorship,
and an NIHR Senior Investigator Award.
========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Texas_A&M_University. Original
written by Rachel Rose.
Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Woo Seok Kim, M. Ibrahim Khot, Hyun-Myung Woo, Sungcheol Hong,
Dong-Hyun
Baek, Thomas Maisey, Brandon Daniels, P. Louise Coletta, Byung-Jun
Yoon, David G. Jayne, Sung Il Park. AI-enabled, implantable,
multichannel wireless telemetry for photodynamic therapy. Nature
Communications, 2022; 13 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-29878-1 ==========================================================================
Link to news story:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/04/220425144205.htm
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