Experimental cancer treatments are
mainstream medical therapies intended to treat
cancer
Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...
by improving on, supplementing or replacing conventional methods (
surgery
Surgery ''cheirourgikē'' (composed of χείρ, "hand", and ἔργον, "work"), via la, chirurgiae, meaning "hand work". is a medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a person to investigate or treat a pat ...
,
chemotherapy
Chemotherapy (often abbreviated to chemo and sometimes CTX or CTx) is a type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) as part of a standardized chemotherapy regimen. Chemotherap ...
,
radiation
In physics, radiation is the emission or transmission of energy in the form of waves or particles through space or through a material medium. This includes:
* ''electromagnetic radiation'', such as radio waves, microwaves, infrared, visi ...
, and
immunotherapy
Immunotherapy or biological therapy is the treatment of disease by activating or suppressing the immune system. Immunotherapies designed to elicit or amplify an immune response are classified as ''activation immunotherapies,'' while immunotherap ...
). However, researchers are
still trying to determine whether these treatments are safe and effective treatments. Experimental cancer treatments are normally available only to people who participate in formal research programs, which are called
''clinical trials''. Occasionally, a seriously ill person may be able to access an experimental drug through an
expanded access
Expanded access or compassionate use is the use of an unapproved drug or medical device under special forms of investigational new drug applications (IND) or IDE application for devices, outside of a clinical trial, by people with serious or life ...
program. Some of the treatments have
regulatory approval
Regulation is the management of complex systems according to a set of rules and trends. In systems theory, these types of rules exist in various fields of biology and society, but the term has slightly different meanings according to context. For ...
for treating other conditions.
Health insurance
Health insurance or medical insurance (also known as medical aid in South Africa) is a type of insurance that covers the whole or a part of the risk of a person incurring medical expenses. As with other types of insurance, risk is shared among ma ...
and
publicly funded health care
Publicly funded healthcare is a form of health care financing designed to meet the cost of all or most healthcare needs from a publicly managed fund. Usually this is under some form of democratic accountability, the right of access to which are se ...
programs normally refuse to pay for experimental cancer treatments.
The entries listed below vary between theoretical therapies to unproven controversial therapies. Many of these treatments are alleged to help against only specific forms of cancer. It is not a list of treatments widely available at hospitals.
Studying treatments for cancer
The twin goals of research are to determine whether the treatment actually works (called
efficacy
Efficacy is the ability to perform a task to a satisfactory or expected degree. The word comes from the same roots as ''effectiveness'', and it has often been used synonymously, although in pharmacology a pragmatic clinical trial#Efficacy versu ...
) and whether it is sufficiently safe. Regulatory processes attempt to balance the potential benefits with the potential harms, so that people given the treatment are more likely to benefit from it than to be harmed by it.
Medical research for cancer begins much like research for any disease. In organized studies of new treatments for cancer, the
pre-clinical development
In drug development, preclinical development, also termed preclinical studies or nonclinical studies, is a stage of research that begins before clinical trials (testing in humans) and during which important feasibility, iterative testing and drug ...
of drugs, devices, and techniques begins in laboratories, either with isolated cells or in small animals, most commonly rats or mice. In other cases, the proposed treatment for cancer is already in use for some other medical condition, in which case more is known about its safety and potential efficacy.
Clinical trial
Clinical trials are prospective biomedical or behavioral research studies on human participants designed to answer specific questions about biomedical or behavioral interventions, including new treatments (such as novel vaccines, drugs, dietar ...
s are the study of treatments in humans. The first-in-human tests of a potential treatment are called
Phase I studies. Early clinical trials typically enroll a very small number of patients, and the purpose is to identify major safety issues and the ''
maximum tolerated dose
The therapeutic index (TI; also referred to as therapeutic ratio) is a quantitative measurement of the relative safety of a drug. It is a comparison of the amount of a therapeutic agent that causes the therapeutic effect to the amount that causes ...
'', which is the highest dose that does not produce serious or fatal
adverse effect
An adverse effect is an undesired harmful effect resulting from a medication or other intervention, such as surgery. An adverse effect may be termed a "side effect", when judged to be secondary to a main or therapeutic effect. The term complica ...
s. The dose given in these trials may be far too small to produce any useful effect. In most research, these early trials may involve healthy people, but cancer studies normally enroll only people with relatively severe forms of the disease in this stage of testing. On average, 95% of the participants in these early trials receive no benefit, but all are exposed to the risk of adverse effects. Most participants show signs of
optimism bias
Optimism bias (or the optimistic bias) is a cognitive bias that causes someone to believe that they themselves are less likely to experience a negative event. It is also known as unrealistic optimism or comparative optimism.
Optimism bias is commo ...
(the irrational belief that they will beat the odds).
Later studies, called
Phase II and
Phase III studies, enroll more people, and the goal is to determine whether the treatment actually works. Phase III studies are frequently
randomized controlled trial
A randomized controlled trial (or randomized control trial; RCT) is a form of scientific experiment used to control factors not under direct experimental control. Examples of RCTs are clinical trials that compare the effects of drugs, surgical te ...
s, with the experimental treatment being compared to the current best available treatment rather than to a
placebo
A placebo ( ) is a substance or treatment which is designed to have no therapeutic value. Common placebos include inert tablets (like sugar pills), inert injections (like Saline (medicine), saline), sham surgery, and other procedures.
In general ...
. In some cases, the Phase III trial provides the best available treatment to all participants, in addition to some of the patients receiving the experimental treatment.
Bacterial treatments
Chemotherapeutic
Chemotherapy (often abbreviated to chemo and sometimes CTX or CTx) is a type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) as part of a standardized chemotherapy regimen. Chemotherap ...
drugs
A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalat ...
have a hard time penetrating tumors to kill them at their core because these cells may lack a good blood supply . Researchers have been using
anaerobic bacteria
An anaerobic organism or anaerobe is any organism that does not require molecular oxygen for growth. It may react negatively or even die if free oxygen is present. In contrast, an aerobic organism (aerobe) is an organism that requires an oxygenate ...
, such as ''
Clostridium novyi
''Clostridium novyi'' (oedematiens) a Gram-positive, endospore- forming, obligate anaerobic bacteria of the class Clostridia. It is ubiquitous, being found in the soil and faeces. It is pathogenic, causing a wide variety of diseases in man and an ...
'', to consume the interior of oxygen-poor tumours. These should then die when they come in contact with the tumor's oxygenated sides, meaning they would be harmless to the rest of the body. A major problem has been that bacteria do not consume all parts of the malignant tissue. However, combining the therapy with chemotherapeutic treatments can help to solve this problem.
Another strategy is to use anaerobic bacteria that have been transformed with an enzyme that can convert a non-toxic
prodrug
A prodrug is a medication or compound that, after intake, is metabolized (i.e., converted within the body) into a pharmacologically active drug. Instead of administering a drug directly, a corresponding prodrug can be used to improve how the drug ...
into a toxic drug. With the proliferation of the bacteria in the
necrotic
Necrosis () is a form of cell injury which results in the premature death of cells in living tissue by autolysis. Necrosis is caused by factors external to the cell or tissue, such as infection, or trauma which result in the unregulated dige ...
and
hypoxic
Hypoxia means a lower than normal level of oxygen, and may refer to:
Reduced or insufficient oxygen
* Hypoxia (environmental), abnormally low oxygen content of the specific environment
* Hypoxia (medical), abnormally low level of oxygen in the t ...
areas of the tumor, the enzyme is expressed solely in the tumor. Thus, a systemically applied prodrug is metabolised to the toxic drug only in the tumor. This has been demonstrated to be effective with the nonpathogenic anaerobe ''
Clostridium sporogenes
''Clostridium sporogenes'' is a species of Gram-positive bacteria that belongs to the genus ''Clostridium''. Like other strains of ''Clostridium'', it is an anaerobic, rod-shaped bacterium that produces oval, subterminal endospores and is commonl ...
''.
Drug therapies
HAMLET (human alpha-lactalbumin made lethal to tumor cells)
HAMLET (human alpha-lactalbumin made lethal to tumor cells) is a molecular complex derived from human
breast milk
Breast milk (sometimes spelled as breastmilk) or mother's milk is milk produced by mammary glands located in the breast of a human female. Breast milk is the primary source of nutrition for newborns, containing fat, protein, carbohydrates ( lacto ...
that kills tumor cells by a process resembling programmed cell death (
apoptosis
Apoptosis (from grc, ἀπόπτωσις, apóptōsis, 'falling off') is a form of programmed cell death that occurs in multicellular organisms. Biochemical events lead to characteristic cell changes (morphology) and death. These changes incl ...
). , it had been tested in humans with skin
papilloma
A papilloma (plural papillomas or papillomata) ('' papillo-'' + '' -oma'') is a benign epithelial tumor growing exophytically (outwardly projecting) in nipple-like and often finger-like fronds. In this context, papilla refers to the projection cre ...
s and
bladder cancer
Bladder cancer is any of several types of cancer arising from the tissues of the urinary bladder. Symptoms include blood in the urine, pain with urination, and low back pain. It is caused when epithelial cells that line the bladder become mali ...
.
[
]
p53 activation therapy
Several drug therapies are being developed based on
p53
p53, also known as Tumor protein P53, cellular tumor antigen p53 (UniProt name), or transformation-related protein 53 (TRP53) is a regulatory protein that is often mutated in human cancers. The p53 proteins (originally thought to be, and often s ...
, the
tumour suppressor gene
A tumor suppressor gene (TSG), or anti-oncogene, is a gene that regulates a cell during cell division and replication. If the cell grows uncontrollably, it will result in cancer. When a tumor suppressor gene is mutated, it results in a loss or red ...
that protects the cell in response to damage and stress. It is analogous to deciding what to do with a damaged car: p53 brings everything to a halt, and then decides whether to fix the cell or, if the cell is beyond repair, to destroy the cell. This protective function of p53 is disabled in most cancer cells, allowing them to multiply without check. Restoration of p53 activity in tumours (where possible) has been shown to inhibit tumour growth and can even shrink the tumour.
As p53 protein levels are usually kept low, one could block its degradation and allow large amounts of p53 to accumulate, thus stimulating p53 activity and its antitumour effects. Drugs that utilize this mechanism include
nutlin
Nutlins are ''cis''- imidazoline analogs which inhibit the interaction between mdm2 and tumor suppressor p53
p53, also known as Tumor protein P53, cellular tumor antigen p53 (UniProt name), or transformation-related protein 53 (TRP53) is a r ...
and MI-219, which are both in phase I
clinical trials
Clinical trials are prospective biomedical or behavioral research studies on human participants designed to answer specific questions about biomedical or behavioral interventions, including new treatments (such as novel vaccines, drugs, dietar ...
. , there are also other drugs that are still in the preclinical stage of testing, such as RITA and MITA.
BI811283
BI811283 is a
small molecule
Within the fields of molecular biology and pharmacology, a small molecule or micromolecule is a low molecular weight (≤ 1000 daltons) organic compound that may regulate a biological process, with a size on the order of 1 nm. Many drugs ar ...
inhibitor of the
aurora B kinase
Aurora kinase B is a protein that functions in the attachment of the mitotic spindle to the centromere.
Function
Chromosomal segregation during mitosis as well as meiosis is regulated by kinases and phosphatases. The Aurora kinases associate wi ...
protein being developed by
Boehringer Ingelheim
C.H. Boehringer Sohn AG & Co. is the parent company of the Boehringer Ingelheim group, which was founded in 1885 by Albert Boehringer in Ingelheim am Rhein, Germany. As of 2018, Boehringer Ingelheim is one of the world's largest pharmaceutical ...
for use as an
anti-cancer agent. , BI 811283 is currently in the early stages of
clinical development
Drug development is the process of bringing a new pharmaceutical drug to the market once a lead compound has been identified through the process of drug discovery. It includes preclinical research on microorganisms and animals, filing for reg ...
and is undergoing first-in-human trials in patients with
solid tumor
A neoplasm () is a type of abnormal and excessive growth of tissue. The process that occurs to form or produce a neoplasm is called neoplasia. The growth of a neoplasm is uncoordinated with that of the normal surrounding tissue, and persists ...
s and
Acute Myeloid Leukaemia
Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a cancer of the myeloid line of blood cells, characterized by the rapid growth of abnormal cells that build up in the bone marrow and blood and interfere with normal blood cell production. Symptoms may include ...
.
[
]
Itraconazole treatment
Itraconazole
Itraconazole, sometimes abbreviated ITZ, is an antifungal medication used to treat a number of fungal infections. This includes aspergillosis, blastomycosis, coccidioidomycosis, histoplasmosis, and paracoccidioidomycosis. It may be given by mouth ...
, sometimes abbreviated ITZ, is an
antifungal medication
An antifungal medication, also known as an antimycotic medication, is a pharmaceutical fungicide or fungistatic used to treat and prevent mycosis such as athlete's foot, ringworm, candidiasis (thrush), serious systemic infections such as crypt ...
used to treat a number of
fungal infections
Fungal infection, also known as mycosis, is disease caused by fungi. Different types are traditionally divided according to the part of the body affected; superficial, subcutaneous, and systemic. Superficial fungal infections include common ti ...
. Recent research works suggest itraconazole (ITZ) could also be used in the treatment of cancer by inhibiting the
hedgehog pathway in a similar way to
Sonidegib
Sonidegib (INN), sold under the brand name Odomzo, is a medication used to treat cancer.
Sonidegib is Hedgehog signaling pathway inhibitor (via smoothened antagonism).
Approvals and indications
It was approved for medical use in the United State ...
.
Gene therapy
Introduction of
tumor suppressor gene
A tumor suppressor gene (TSG), or anti-oncogene, is a gene that regulates a cell during cell division and replication. If the cell grows uncontrollably, it will result in cancer. When a tumor suppressor gene is mutated, it results in a loss or red ...
s into rapidly dividing cells has been thought to slow down or arrest tumor growth.
Adenoviruses
Adenoviruses (members of the family ''Adenoviridae'') are medium-sized (90–100 nm), nonenveloped (without an outer lipid bilayer) viruses with an icosahedral nucleocapsid containing a double-stranded DNA genome. Their name derives from thei ...
are a commonly utilized vector for this purpose. Much research has focused on the use of adenoviruses that cannot reproduce, or reproduce only to a limited extent, within the patient to ensure safety via the avoidance of
cytolytic destruction of noncancerous cells infected with the vector. However, new studies focus on adenoviruses that can be permitted to reproduce, and destroy cancerous cells in the process, since the adenoviruses' ability to infect normal cells is substantially impaired, potentially resulting in a far more effective treatment.
Another use of gene therapy is the introduction of
enzyme
Enzymes () are proteins that act as biological catalysts by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different molecules known as products. A ...
s into these cells that make them susceptible to particular chemotherapy agents; studies with introducing
thymidine kinase
Thymidine kinase is an enzyme, a phosphotransferase (a kinase): 2'-deoxythymidine kinase, ATP-thymidine 5'-phosphotransferase, EC 2.7.1.21. It can be found in most living cells. It is present in two forms in mammalian cells, TK1 and TK2. Cert ...
in
glioma
A glioma is a type of tumor that starts in the glial cells of the brain or the spine. Gliomas comprise about 30 percent of all brain tumors and central nervous system tumours, and 80 percent of all malignant brain tumours.
Signs and symptoms
...
s, making them susceptible to
aciclovir
Aciclovir (ACV), also known as acyclovir, is an antiviral medication. It is primarily used for the treatment of herpes simplex virus infections, chickenpox, and shingles. Other uses include prevention of cytomegalovirus infections following tran ...
, are in their experimental stage.
Epigenetic options
Epigenetics
In biology, epigenetics is the study of stable phenotypic changes (known as ''marks'') that do not involve alterations in the DNA sequence. The Greek prefix '' epi-'' ( "over, outside of, around") in ''epigenetics'' implies features that are "o ...
is the study of heritable changes in gene activity that are not caused by changes in the DNA sequence, often a result of environmental or dietary damage to the
histone
In biology, histones are highly basic proteins abundant in lysine and arginine residues that are found in eukaryotic cell nuclei. They act as spools around which DNA winds to create structural units called nucleosomes. Nucleosomes in turn are wr ...
receptors within the cell. Current research has shown that epigenetic pharmaceuticals could be a putative replacement or adjuvant therapy for currently accepted treatment methods such as
radiation
In physics, radiation is the emission or transmission of energy in the form of waves or particles through space or through a material medium. This includes:
* ''electromagnetic radiation'', such as radio waves, microwaves, infrared, visi ...
and
chemotherapy
Chemotherapy (often abbreviated to chemo and sometimes CTX or CTx) is a type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) as part of a standardized chemotherapy regimen. Chemotherap ...
, or could enhance the effects of these current treatments.
It has been shown that the epigenetic control of the proto-onco regions and the tumor suppressor sequences by conformational changes in histones directly affects the formation and progression of cancer.
Epigenetics also has the factor of reversibility, a characteristic that other cancer treatments do not offer.
Some investigators, like
Randy Jirtle, PhD, of Duke University Medical Center, think epigenetics may ultimately turn out to have a greater role in disease than genetics.
Telomerase deactivation therapy
Because most malignant cells rely on the activity of the protein
telomerase
Telomerase, also called terminal transferase, is a ribonucleoprotein that adds a species-dependent telomere repeat sequence to the 3' end of telomeres. A telomere is a region of repetitive sequences at each end of the chromosomes of most euka ...
for their immortality, it has been proposed that a drug that inactivates telomerase might be effective against a broad spectrum of malignancies. At the same time, most healthy tissues in the body express little if any telomerase, and would function normally in its absence. Currently,
inositol hexaphosphate
Phytic acid is a six-fold dihydrogenphosphate ester of inositol (specifically, of the ''myo'' isomer), also called inositol hexakisphosphate (IP6) or inositol polyphosphate. At physiological pH, the phosphates are partially ionized, resulting in ...
, which is available over-the-counter, is undergoing testing in cancer research due to its telomerase-inhibiting abilities.
A number of research groups have experimented with the use of
telomerase inhibitors in
animal model
An animal model (short for animal disease model) is a living, non-human, often genetic-engineered animal used during the research and investigation of human disease, for the purpose of better understanding the disease process without the risk of ha ...
s, and as of 2005 and 2006 phase I and II
human clinical trials are underway.
Geron Corporation
Geron Corporation is a biotechnology company located in Foster City, California, Foster City, California, which specializes in developing and commercializing therapeutic products for cancer that inhibit telomerase.
Company information
Geron, ba ...
is currently conducting two clinical trials involving telomerase inhibitors. One uses a vaccine (
GRNVAC1) and the other uses a lipidated oligonucleotide (
GRN163L).
Radiation therapies
Photodynamic therapy
Photodynamic therapy
Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a form of phototherapy involving light and a photosensitizing chemical substance, used in conjunction with molecular oxygen to elicit cell death (phototoxicity).
PDT is popularly used in treating acne. It is used cl ...
(PDT) is generally a non-invasive treatment using a combination of light and a photosensitive drug, such as 5-ALA, Foscan, Metvix,
padeliporfin (Tookad, WST09, WST11), Photofrin, or
Visudyne
Verteporfin (trade name Visudyne), a benzoporphyrin derivative, is a medication used as a photosensitizer for photodynamic therapy to eliminate the abnormal blood vessels in the eye associated with conditions such as the wet form of macular dege ...
. The drug is triggered by light of a specific wavelength.
Hyperthermiatic therapy
Localized and whole-body application of heat has been proposed as a technique for the treatment of malignant tumours. Intense heating will cause
denaturation and coagulation of
cellular
Cellular may refer to:
*Cellular automaton, a model in discrete mathematics
* Cell biology, the evaluation of cells work and more
* ''Cellular'' (film), a 2004 movie
*Cellular frequencies, assigned to networks operating in cellular RF bands
*Cell ...
protein
Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, respo ...
s, rapidly killing cells within a tumour.
More prolonged moderate heating to temperatures just a few degrees above normal (39.5 °C) can cause more subtle changes. A mild heat treatment combined with other stresses can cause cell death by
apoptosis
Apoptosis (from grc, ἀπόπτωσις, apóptōsis, 'falling off') is a form of programmed cell death that occurs in multicellular organisms. Biochemical events lead to characteristic cell changes (morphology) and death. These changes incl ...
. There are many biochemical consequences to the
heat shock response
The heat shock response (HSR) is a cell stress response that increases the number of molecular chaperones to combat the negative effects on proteins caused by stressors such as increased temperatures, oxidative stress, and heavy metals. In a norma ...
within the cell, including slowed cell division and increased sensitivity to ionizing
radiation therapy
Radiation therapy or radiotherapy, often abbreviated RT, RTx, or XRT, is a therapy using ionizing radiation, generally provided as part of cancer treatment to control or kill malignant cells and normally delivered by a linear accelerator. Radia ...
. The purpose of overheating the tumor cells is to create a lack of oxygen so that the heated cells become overacidified, which leads to a lack of nutrients in the tumor. This in turn disrupts the metabolism of the cells so that cell death (apoptosis) can set in. In certain cases chemotherapy or radiation that has previously not had any effect can be made effective. Hyperthermia alters the cell walls by means of so-called heat shock proteins. The cancer cells then react very much more effectively to the cytostatics and radiation. If hyperthermia is used conscientiously it has no serious side effects.
There are many techniques by which heat may be delivered. Some of the most common involve the use of focused
ultrasound
Ultrasound is sound waves with frequency, frequencies higher than the upper audible limit of human hearing range, hearing. Ultrasound is not different from "normal" (audible) sound in its physical properties, except that humans cannot hea ...
(FUS or
HIFU
High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) is a non-invasive therapeutic technique that uses non-ionizing ultrasonic waves to heat or ablate tissue. HIFU can be used to increase the flow of blood or lymph or to destroy tissue, such as tumors, via ...
),
microwave
Microwave is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths ranging from about one meter to one millimeter corresponding to frequencies between 300 MHz and 300 GHz respectively. Different sources define different frequency ran ...
heating,
induction heating
Induction heating is the process of heating electrically conductive materials, namely metals or semi-conductors, by electromagnetic induction, through heat transfer passing through an induction coil that creates an electromagnetic field within th ...
,
magnetic hyperthermia
Hyperthermia therapy ''(or hyperthermia, or thermotherapy)'' is a type of medical treatment in which body tissue is exposed to temperatures above body temperature, in the region of 40–45 °C (104–113 °F). Hyperthermia is usually ...
, and direct application of heat through the use of heated saline pumped through catheters. Experiments with carbon nanotubes that selectively bind to cancer cells have been performed. Lasers are then used that pass harmlessly through the body, but heat the nanotubes, causing the death of the cancer cells. Similar results have also been achieved with other types of nanoparticles, including gold-coated nanoshells and nanorods that exhibit certain degrees of 'tunability' of the absorption properties of the nanoparticles to the wavelength of light for irradiation. The success of this approach to cancer treatment rests on the existence of an 'optical window' in which biological tissue (i.e., healthy cells) are completely transparent at the wavelength of the laser light, while nanoparticles are highly absorbing at the same wavelength. Such a 'window' exists in the so-called near-infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum. In this way, the laser light can pass through the system without harming healthy tissue, and only diseased cells, where the nanoparticles reside, get hot and are killed.
Magnetic Hyperthermia
Hyperthermia therapy ''(or hyperthermia, or thermotherapy)'' is a type of medical treatment in which body tissue is exposed to temperatures above body temperature, in the region of 40–45 °C (104–113 °F). Hyperthermia is usually ...
makes use of magnetic nanoparticles, which can be injected into tumours and then generate heat when subjected to an alternating magnetic field.
One of the challenges in thermal therapy is delivering the appropriate amount of heat to the correct part of the patient's body. A great deal of current research focuses on precisely positioning heat delivery devices (catheters, microwave, and ultrasound applicators, etc.) using ultrasound or
magnetic resonance imaging
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to form pictures of the anatomy and the physiological processes of the body. MRI scanners use strong magnetic fields, magnetic field gradients, and radio wave ...
, as well as of developing new types of nanoparticles that make them particularly efficient absorbers while offering little or no concerns about toxicity to the circulation system. Clinicians also hope to use advanced imaging techniques to monitor heat treatments in real time—heat-induced changes in
tissue are sometimes perceptible using these imaging instruments. In
magnetic hyperthermia
Hyperthermia therapy ''(or hyperthermia, or thermotherapy)'' is a type of medical treatment in which body tissue is exposed to temperatures above body temperature, in the region of 40–45 °C (104–113 °F). Hyperthermia is usually ...
or magnetic fluid hyperthermia method, it will be easier to control temperature distribution by controlling the velocity of
ferrofluid
Ferrofluid is a liquid that is attracted to the poles of a magnet. It is a colloidal liquid made of nanoscale ferromagnetic or ferrimagnetic particles suspended in a carrier fluid (usually an organic solvent or water). Each magnetic particle ...
injection and size of
magnetic nanoparticles
Magnetic nanoparticles are a class of nanoparticle that can be manipulated using magnetic fields. Such particles commonly consist of two components, a magnetic material, often iron, nickel and cobalt, and a chemical component that has functionali ...
.
Noninvasive cancer heat treatment
Heat treatment involves using radio waves to heat up tiny metals that are implanted in cancerous tissue.
Gold nanoparticle
Colloidal gold is a sol or colloidal suspension of nanoparticles of gold in a fluid, usually water. The colloid is usually either wine-red coloured (for spherical particles less than 100 nm) or blue/purple (for larger spherical particles ...
s or
carbon nanotube
A scanning tunneling microscopy image of a single-walled carbon nanotube
Rotating single-walled zigzag carbon nanotube
A carbon nanotube (CNT) is a tube made of carbon with diameters typically measured in nanometers.
''Single-wall carbon na ...
s are the most likely candidate. Promising preclinical trials have been conducted,
[
] although clinical trials may not be held for another few years.
Another method that is entirely non-invasive referred to as
Tumor Treating Fields
Alternating electric field therapy, sometimes called tumor treating fields (TTFields), is a type of electromagnetic field therapy using low-intensity, intermediate frequency electrical fields to treat cancer. A TTField-generating device manufact ...
has already reached clinical trial stage in many countries. The concept applies an
electric field
An electric field (sometimes E-field) is the physical field that surrounds electrically charged particles and exerts force on all other charged particles in the field, either attracting or repelling them. It also refers to the physical field fo ...
through a tumour region using electrodes external to the body. Successful trials have shown the process effectiveness to be greater than chemotherapy and there are no side-effects and only negligible time spent away from normal daily activities. This treatment is still in very early development stages for many types of cancer.
High-intensity focused ultrasound
High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) is a non-invasive therapeutic technique that uses non-ionizing ultrasonic waves to heat or ablate tissue. HIFU can be used to increase the flow of blood or lymph or to destroy tissue, such as tumors, via ...
(HIFU) is still in investigatory phases in many places around the world.
In China it has CFDA approval and over 180 treatment centres have been established in China, Hong Kong, and Korea. HIFU has been successfully used to treat cancer to destroy tumours of the bone, brain, breast, liver, pancreas, rectum, kidney, testes, and prostate. Several thousand patients have been treated with various types of tumours. HIFU has CE approval for palliative care for bone metastasis. Experimentally, palliative care has been provided for cases of advanced pancreatic cancer. High-energy therapeutic ultrasound could increase higher-density anti-cancer drug load and nanomedicines to target tumor sites by 20x fold higher than traditional target cancer therapy.
Cold atmospheric plasma treatment
Cold atmospheric plasma or CAP for short is an emerging modality for the treatment of solid tumors Recently, cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) indicated promising anti-neoplastic effects on several tumors, e.g. melanoma, glioma, and pancreatic cancer cells
, 6, 7 and therefore could be an efficient method for anti-cancer treatment in clinical urology in the future. One example of an experimental technology utilizing Cold Atmospheric plasma i
Theraphi
Electromagnetic treatments
Tumor Treating Fields
Alternating electric field therapy, sometimes called tumor treating fields (TTFields), is a type of electromagnetic field therapy using low-intensity, intermediate frequency electrical fields to treat cancer. A TTField-generating device manufact ...
is a novel FDA-approved cancer treatment therapy that uses alternating electric field to disturb the rapid cell division exhibited by cancer cells.
Complementary and alternative treatments
Complementary and alternative medicine
Alternative medicine is any practice that aims to achieve the healing effects of medicine despite lacking biological plausibility, testability, repeatability, or evidence from clinical trials. Complementary medicine (CM), complementary and alt ...
(CAM) treatments are the diverse group of medical and healthcare systems, practices, and products that are not part of conventional medicine and have not been proven to be effective.
''Complementary medicine'' usually refers to methods and substances used along with conventional medicine, while ''alternative medicine'' refers to compounds used instead of conventional medicine.
What Is CAM?
National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health
The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) is a United States government agency which explores complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). It was initially created in 1991 as the Office of Alternative Medicine (OAM), ...
. retrieved 3 February 2008. CAM use is common among people with cancer.
Most complementary and alternative medicines for cancer have not been rigorously studied or tested. Some alternative treatments that have been proven ineffective continue to be marketed and promoted.
References
External links
"Questionable Cancer Therapies"
clinicaltrials.gov
{{DEFAULTSORT:Experimental Cancer Treatment
Emerging technologies