Found, cancer radiation therapy without side effects - Now researchers are developing ways for radiation therapy for cancer patients who do not give side effects such as hair loss or other pain. This experiment has been successfully tested in mice, and is currently being tested in humans.
Side effects due to radiation therapy is usually caused by healthy cells that were damaged, while therapies kill cancer cells. Some common side effects are hair loss, diarrhea, nausea, and dry skin.
Hair follicles are usually damaged by radiation therapy for such tumors, hair follicles are made of cells growing rapidly. Cancer cells grow faster than normal cells, thus causing normal cells lose oxygen and nutrients.
In this innovation, professor M Frederick Hawthorne and his team from the University of Missouri using boron chemicals. Boron is a chemical commonly used to coat the walls of plant cells and found on the ground. Cancer cells are forced to absorb boron.
When cancer cells containing boron neutron approaching on, boron would react and break down cancer cells. That way, the healthy cells will not be damaged and not bring side effects in cancer patients.
"Our team finally found a way to make use of BNCT boron. Technique works well in mice. Now time to try on larger animals, then in humans," said Hawthorne, as reported by the Daily Mail (04/04).
Furthermore, researchers are still going to try it this way in humans. If successful, this method could simplify course of radiation therapy by cancer patients.
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