Tag Archive for: tumor

February 2023 Digital Health Roundup

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This month highlights the important contributions that technology has brought to the fight on cancer. Thanks to technology, doctors are armed with new therapies to treat cancer and are assisted by AI in detecting cancer. Histotripsy is a non-invasive, sound wave-based treatment being tested to add to the arsenal of tools to fight cancer. Hyperthermic nanoparticles are being fine-tuned to treat more types of cancerous tumors more effectively. It is an encouraging and exciting time in the field of cancer technology.

From Vaccines to AI: New Weapons in the Fight Against Cancer

Cancer accounted for nearly 10 million deaths-almost one in six of the global total – in 2020, according to the World Health Organization. Recent scientific and medical advances have added several new weapons to our arsenal, including personalized gene therapy, artificial intelligence screening, simple blood tests- and potentially soon vaccines, reports MedicalXpress. Immunotherapy drugs use the body’s own immune system to kill cancer. This therapy has less severe side effects than chemotherapy but currently it is only used on a few types of cancer. CAR-T therapy modifies the patient’s own T cells from their blood or T cells from a healthy donor. In a lab the T cells are modified to target cancer and then injected back into the patient. CAR-T therapy has been effective in treating leukemia. Artificial Intelligence has been found to detect brain and breast cancers more accurately than humans. AI can also identify which patients benefit from shorter courses of cancer treatments; which allows patients to have fewer side effects. Liquid biopsy tests can now detect cancer from a simple blood test. Using mRNA vaccines, the vaccine can be personalized and used to treat cancer. Click to read the full story.

Histotripsy- A New Sound-Based Cancer Treatment Stimulates Immunity

Histotripsy is a technique that uses sound waves to rip tumors apart, without even breaking the skin. The non-invasive waves work in two ways; to break down a shield that protects the tumor cells, and then stimulate an immune response, reports LabRoots. Histotripsy has been shown to kill tumors in rats, even when only a large part of the mass is broken up. It has been shown to prevent recurrence and metastasis in the animals that have been treated with it. The process exposes antigens on the tumor surface, which in turn causes an immune response allowing the body to attack the tumors. Chemotherapy and radiation can then destroy the exposed antigens. This treatment worked in a small human study to remove liver tumors. Further human studies will be done on a larger scale soon. Click to read the full story.

Hyperthermic Nanoparticles for Cancer Treatment

Hyperthermia (excess heat) refers to the use of high temperatures to treat cancer. When used to treat tumors locally, high temperatures can destroy cancer cells and even the blood vessels that supply vital nutrients to these cells, reports LabRoots. Scientists use nanoparticle technology to deliver hyperthermia, but it has its limitations. These nanoparticles are most effective in tumors that are easy to reach by injection. If it is given intravenously in an infusion, there are not enough nanoparticles remaining to effectively treat the tumor. A new approach has been developed with nanoparticles that have higher heat, 122 degrees Fahrenheit, making it more effective. They have also used magnetic fields to help heat the nanoparticles. Scientists have created nanoparticles with special cores and shells that heat up more efficiently. They hope to develop some that can be given IV and reach the tumor at the desired temperature. Click to read the full story.

December 2022 Digital Health Roundup

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Scientists and engineers have teamed up to create new treatments to help fight cancer. These treatments sound like something out of a science fiction movie but are bringing us closer to ending cancer. Bacteriabots are nanobots used to destroy tumors and trigger the patient’s own immune response to fight their cancer. CRISPR is using CAR T-cells to create therapies for cancer patients that have run out of treatment options. Nanobubbles in combination with ultrasound waves are being used to kill cancer cells with positive results in early testing. As science and technology advance, it opens new options for cancer treatment.

The Army of ‘Bacteriabots’ That Could Combat Cancer Tumors

In this case, the bacteriabots colonized 3D tumor spheroids. They delivered chemotherapeutic molecules, demonstrating an innovative on-demand drug delivery method for cancer treatment reports InterestingEngineering.com . Biobots are time limited and programmed to self-destruct without leaving anything harmful behind. They are targeted for a particular task such as going to places of high acidity as in tumor tissue. Using bacteriabots helps to limit the unwanted side effects of treatment on healthy tissue, unlike the current treatments of chemotherapy and radiation. The use of bacteriabots is a non-invasive way to get into a closed environment like tissue and blood vessels. These biobots can also be used to trigger the patient’s own immune system. There are many things biobots could eventually be used for; treating other diseases and even repairing a torn ACL without surgery. Click to read the full story.

CRISPR Gene-Editing May Boost Cancer Immunotherapy, New Study Finds

CRISPR is developing cancer treatments using CAR T-cell therapies. These are called “living drugs” because they’re living cells of the immune system, taken from cancer patients, and then reinfused after being genetically engineered in the lab to attack the patient’s tumors reports weku.org . Using a drug that is living can make it last a few weeks or even a few years. This therapy offers a treatment for people that have run out of other options like stem cell therapy. Scientists are trying to make an off the shelf version of this therapy that would be available quickly, made in large quantities, and less expensive. They take T cells from a healthy donor and use CRISPR to reprogram the T cells. It reprograms it in several ways; to leave healthy cells alone, to hide from the patient’s own immune system, and to destroy cancer. While studies are showing some positive results from the off the shelf CAR T-cell therapy, it is not as effective as using the patient’s own cells. Click to read the full story.

These Tiny Bubbles are “Warheads” for Killing Cancer

These infinitesimal gas bubbles surround the tumor and then can be exploded via ultrasound, creating “therapeutic warhead,” as they artfully put it in their study, published in the journal Nanoscale freethink.com . High frequency ultrasound can damage tissues surrounding tumors. The use of low frequency ultrasound in combination with the nanobubbles reduces harm to surrounding tissues. The tiny bubbles are injected into the bloodstream which goes into the blood vessels of a tumor and is then leaked into the tissue of the tumor. The low frequency ultrasound makes the bubbles explode and that kills the cancer cells. This is an effective treatment for tumors that are located deep within the body or where there are many tumors. The hope is that this method would replace surgeries to remove cancerous tumors. The trials are currently moving from mouse trials to human trials. Click to read the full story.

How Can Breast Cancer Genetic Testing Empower Women?

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How Can Breast Cancer Genetic Testing Empower Women? from Patient Empowerment Network on Vimeo.

Dr. Stephanie Valente explains how breast cancer genetic testing results can help women learn about their breast cancer risk and guide prognosis and treatment choices.

Dr. Stephanie Valente is the Director of the Breast Surgery Fellowship Program at Cleveland Clinic. More about this expert here.

See More From INSIST! Metastatic Breast Cancer

Related Resources:

 

What Should You Know About the Role of Surgery in Breast Cancer Treatment?

How Genetic Mutations Affect Metastatic Breast Cancer Prognosis and Treatment

What Could Metastatic Breast Cancer Genetic Testing Advances Mean for You?

Transcript:

Dr. Valente:                

So, genetic testing in this day and age is really empowering to a lot of women. So, it allows women to take control of their health from the beginning. So, if somebody has a strong family history of breast cancer, and that woman doesn’t have breast cancer but wants to know if she’s at an increased genetic risk for developing breast cancer in her lifetime – Knowing that risk and if a gene is identified, that woman could undergo high-risk screening.

So, saying if she develops breast cancer, it would be caught early, and she can go into a high-risk program. Or she can elect to prophylactically – meaning before cancer – remove her breasts. That would be both of the breasts with a mastectomy – Again, with or without reconstruction. And so, that decreases the risk.

Nothing in life is 100%. But it essentially decreases the risk of getting breast cancer. Some of the genes, like the BRCA gene – that’s a very common gene – is a 60% to 80% lifetime risk of developing breast cancer. And so, that would take that lifetime risk down to about 5% risk of developing breast cancer. And so, that’s empowering for a lot of women. And so, some women do elect to have that procedure.

The other thing for genetic testing is that for women who are diagnosed with breast cancer, sometimes the triple-negative breast cancer – finding out whether or not they carry a BRCA gene. We know that certain genes in triple-negative breast cancer allow patients to have better treatment outcomes with certain chemotherapy. So, the medical oncologist may opt to add a specific chemotherapy based on whether or not that patient actually carries a genetic mutation.

What Should You Know About the Role of Surgery in Breast Cancer Treatment?

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What Should You Know About the Role of Surgery in Breast Cancer Treatment? from Patient Empowerment Network on Vimeo.

Dr. Stephanie Valente explains how surgery approaches, including mastectomy and lumpectomy, are used in treating breast cancer, and addresses common misconceptions about mastectomy.

Dr. Stephanie Valente is the Director of the Breast Surgery Fellowship Program at Cleveland Clinic. More about this expert here.

See More From The Pro-Active Breast Cancer Patient Toolkit

Related Resources:

 

Metastatic Breast Cancer: Accessing the Best Treatment for YOU

When Is a Full Mastectomy Appropriate for Breast Cancer Patients?

Factors that Guide a Metastatic Treatment Decision
 

Transcript:

Dr. Valente:            

So, breast cancer patients have the option to remove their whole breast, which is called a mastectomy. And if they pick that option, they could choose to have reconstruction or to essentially go flat. Yes, we have even done reconstruction in metastatic breast cancer patients. Metastatic breast cancer patients live for a really long time, so giving them reconstruction to make them feel whole and kind of put them back together after a mastectomy is definitely a good option.        

The other option is to just remove the cancer. So, if the patient has a small breast cancer, and it’s metastatic, we can just say – Hey, you don’t have to have the whole breast removed. So, we can do a lumpectomy, as well.

So, a lumpectomy is essentially a surgery that removes the cancer with a normal rim of tissue around it. We also call it a partial mastectomy, meaning you’re removing just part of the breast. Or it’s also called breast-conserving surgery. So, it’s any method that removes that cancer with a normal rim of healthy tissue around it but allows the woman to keep her breasts.

So, when it comes to surgical choices and a cancer coming back, some women think that if they pick the most advanced surgery, such as a mastectomy, it helps prevent cancer from going somewhere else in the body. And that’s actually not true. Removing both breasts, doesn’t make you live one day longer. At that point, a mastectomy or a lumpectomy is a choice.

And prognosis – meaning whether or not the cancer’s gonna show up somewhere in the body – is based really on two things – the stage at which the breast cancer presents itself and what type of breast cancer it is – meaning is the cancer outside of the lymph nodes? How large is it? And if it’s a triple negative or some other type of breast cancer? Those determine the higher likelihood that somebody could develop metastatic breast cancer later in their life, even though small, early-stage breast cancers, unfortunately, can also develop metastasis later on in life.

But women sometimes think that if they pick the most aggressive surgery, it’s helping prevent metastatic spread later on in life. And that’s actually not the choice.  Breast cancer surgery is the option that women choose to surgically remove their breast cancer. But again, choosing a mastectomy or a lumpectomy for an early-stage breast cancer is a choice of how they wanna remove the breast cancer. But it doesn’t improve the chances that they won’t have metastatic spread later on.

So, the role of surgery for metastatic breast cancer is mainly for what we call to remove the cancer or sometimes for local control. So, the number one treatment if somebody is diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer is systemic therapy. That might be chemotherapy or endocrine therapy. But it’s really to get the metastatic disease under control.

So, where does breast cancer usually go? Bones, liver, lungs, brain. So, surgery to remove the breast or the breast cancer in the breast doesn’t really take care of those problems. But a lot of times for metastatic cancer, the one reason would be for local control. So, if the cancer is causing issues in the breast – swelling, coming out of the skin – where it’s a wound issue, then we’ll remove that to get better control of the area in the breast.

The other reason is if somebody has metastatic cancer, and their cancer in the other area of their body is controlled with the therapy, then we say – Hey, chemo’s working, or the systemic therapy’s working. The only thing that seems to be left is the area in your breast. Then for a conversation with medical oncology, we say you don’t have to come off your medications. This is a good time to remove the breast cancer to control that problem.