A new way to kill a cancer cell: light therapy
June 3rd, 2010 Posted in prostate cancerA chemistry professor at Washington State University is working on a better way - one that specifically targets prostate cancer cells and causes a type of natural death that spares surrounding tissues from damage.
The scientific team is studying photodynamic therapy, which has grown in popularity in recent decades after being used with limited success for more than 100 years. As with radiation and chemotherapy, photodynamic therapy researchers have struggled to target tumors without causing side effects or damage to other parts of the body.
In a recent paper in the journal “Cancer Letters,” the team describes a method that delivers to the cells a chemical that, when exposed to a certain type of light, prompts the cells to die and disappear with minimal side effects.