Friday - March 12, 2010

Light Up Band-Aid Cures Skin Cancer

This is an amazing claim, but they’ve done the trials and it appears to work! It is miniaturization of an already existing and effective treatment. Important point: this treatment is for non melanoma skin cancer (NMSC) only.

Researchers in Scotland unveiled Friday a new treatment for skin cancer that is almost as easy for patients to use, and doctors to administer, as a simple band-aid.

The Ambulight PDT therapy allows doctors to get patients with increasingly common non-melanoma skin cancer in and out of the hospital in just minutes and leaves virtually no scar.

Dermatology professor James Ferguson, who was involved in the clinical trials at Scotland’s Dundee University, tells CBSNews.com the biggest advantage to the Ambulight is that it’s simply “a lot less painful”.

It uses the same principles as light treatments available for years; covering the cancerous skin patch with a light-sensitive cream which is absorbed only by the cancer cells, then blasting the area with a beam of light that turns the cream into a toxic compound. It effectively kills the cancerous cells without affecting the surrounding tissue.

What makes the Ambulight PDT novel is its size and portability. The light emitting device is about the size of a computer mouse.

Patients have cream applied to the lesion, have a clear bandage placed over the cream, and then fix the Ambulight PDT to the bandage. It can do the rest of the work while the patient remains mobile.

The medicines and light combination involved has been in use in the United States for years, “it’s just a new way of delivering it that happens to be much more comfortable,” Ferguson tells CBS News.

According to Ferguson, both the United States and Great Britain are seeing a huge increase in the number of non-melanoma skin cancers reported each year.

The high-tech device contains a small light that combines with a chemical cream to kill skin cancer cells.

The Ambulight plaster has already been used on 50 patients with a success rate of up to 90%. It is less painful than surgery and leaves no scar.

Muriel Lowe, who had two treatments a week apart, described the result as “fantastic”.

She said: “I have a skin condition that means normal surgery would scar me.

“The doctor told me that cosmetically this would be much better. The treatment is called photodynamic therapy.”

Ambicare, the company that makes the Ambulight device, says

Ambulight PDT is a light-emitting sticking plaster for the treatment of non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC) Simple and easily applied, the plasters are used in Photodynamic therapy (PDT) which is an established alternative to surgery for many forms of skin cancer.

PDT has become a key treatment for skin cancers, an established and growing health issue in many regions of the world. The incidence of non-malignant skin cancer continues to grow rapidly and now affects 15% of the UK, 40% of the USA, and 75% of the Australian populations during their lifetimes. The number of skin cancer lesions requiring treatment is doubling every ten years, as individuals live longer and are affected by the consequences of excessive sun exposure.

Photodynamic Therapy has become a key treatment for skin cancers and its use is expanding. PDT is being more widely adopted as it shows greater cost effectiveness and excellent cosmetic outcome while reducing secondary issues such as infection.

PDT is a multi-step process involving the application of a photosensitive drug followed by controlled exposure to a selective light source which activates daughter compound of the drug and destroys the diseased cells. PDT treatment is less invasive and avoids the scarring associated with surgical removal of the tumour and the need for an in-patient hospital stay.

Ambicare also has a version of their device that works on acne, by killing the Propionibacteria that causes it. Another version works for skin rejuvenation. Different wavelengths of light I gather.

All in all, a nice step forward for technology. And all based on the old nearly-wiccan homeopathic belief that red light is good for the skin, and that sunlight can cure acne. The cream used for the cancer treatment is usually aminolevulinic acid.

This is just the beginning. PDT may also be effective for treating internal tumors as well. Research continues. Light therapy is being used for many things these days, from curing neonatal jaundice to alleviating seasonal mood disorders. Cool!

Posted by Drew458     on 03/12/2010 at 10:09 AM   
Filed Under: • Health-Medicine •  
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