Can skin cancer be treated with light?
October 19th, 2010 - 4:05 pm ICT by ANIWashington, Oct 19 (ANI): Researchers at the University of California, Irvine, are exploring new ways to image cancerous lesions using LEDs that might advance a technique for treating cancer called photodynamic therapy (PDT).
In PDT, photosensitizing chemicals that absorb light are injected into a tumor, which is then exposed to light. The chemicals generate oxygen radicals from the light energy, destroying the cancer cells.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) currently approve PDT for the treatment of esophageal and lung cancer.
“Through this imaging modality, it is now possible to assess how the therapeutic light will travel throughout the affected tissue, quantify the drug present within the lesion and monitor its efficacy during treatment,” said Rolf Saager, who works in the lab of Anthony Durkin at the Beckman Laser Institute at UC Irvine
Saager and colleagues hope that this imaging technique will provide a better map for targeting and optimizing photodynamic therapy for basal cell carcinoma, the most common type of skin cancer.
The next step for their ongoing experiment will be to enable the therapeutic aspects of the instrument and monitor the tissue dynamics during PDT treatment regimens.
The researchers will describe their work at the Optical Society’s (OSA) 94th annual meeting, Frontiers in Optics (FiO) 2010 at the Rochester Riverside Convention Center in Rochester, N.Y. during late October. (ANI)
- Drug-light combo effective against head, neck cancers - Oct 05, 2009
- Sticking plaster that zaps skin cancer - Jan 23, 2011
- Light therapy offers 'non-invasive' breast cancer treatment - Jun 30, 2009
- New liquid lens for high-resolution imaging below the skin - Feb 21, 2011
- Device to see under the skin for cancer signs - Feb 20, 2011
- New study paves way for better cancer treatment - Feb 05, 2011
- Novel therapy to destroy cancer cells via laser drug activation - Oct 13, 2009
- Targeted photodynamic therapy offers hope for skin cancer patients - Apr 12, 2011
- Quantum mechanics allows 'cryptography over longer distances' - Oct 20, 2010
- Now, hairbrush that reads your mind - Oct 20, 2010
- New tool opens alternate door to prostate cancer diagnosis - Apr 03, 2011
- New Imaging technique accurately identifies cancer cells - Nov 25, 2010
- Robert Plant campaigns for new cancer treatment - Oct 16, 2009
- Widely used arthritis pill shows promise against skin cancer - Dec 03, 2010
- Cure cancer in just two hours - Jan 06, 2012
Tags: basal cell carcinoma, beckman laser institute, cancer cells, cancerous lesions, durkin, food and drug administration, food and drug administration fda, light energy, lung cancer, optical society, oxygen radicals, photodynamic therapy pdt, riverside convention center, skin cancer, therapeutic aspects, therapeutic light, treatment regimens, type of skin cancer, uc irvine, university of california irvine