This week, a new cancer fighting technique was presented at the Society of Interventional Radiology’s 38th Annual Scientific Meeting in New Orleans, which could offer a new way to improve your wellbeing if you have a tumour that has spread to other parts of your body and is beyond the reach of traditional surgical, radiation, and chemotherapy treatments. The promising new cancer treatment, known as the IRE technique, uses electrical pulses which tear microscopic holes in tumours, but do not harm your healthy tissue.
According to lead researcher Constantinos T. Sofocleous, MD, an interventional radiologist at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre in New York, ‘Irreversible electroporation [IRE] is a new way to attack cancer, using microsecond electrical pulses to kill cancer at the cellular level without damaging healthy tissue nearby. It may be especially beneficial in treating liver, lung, pancreatic, and other cancers that are close to blood vessels, nerves, and other sensitive structures.’
The problem with most of the current cancer treatments is that they can actually harm your wellness, as they don’t discriminate between the cancer cells and the healthy tissues near the tumour, and so damage them both. However, Dr Sofocleous noted that IRE perforates the cancer cells precisely, and this poses fewer risks to your major blood vessels, nerves, bile ducts, and other vital structures.
He commented, ‘IRE appears to be especially beneficial in people with cancer that has spread beyond the primary tumour who do not have good treatment options. IRE uses strong electric fields to create tiny holes in the cell membrane, killing the cancer by disrupting the balance between the molecules inside and outside the cell — without resulting in other cell damage. This makes IRE potentially ideal for treating tumours close to sensitive structures.’
Dr Sofocleous noted a small study of 25 cancer patients, in which IRE was shown to be safe in the treatment of cancers that have metastasized to the liver, lung, bladder, and the pelvic region. With larger clinical trials of IRE on the horizon, the Doctor said wider use of the technology could soon be a reality. He explained, ‘Using the least-invasive treatments available, interventional radiologists are able to destroy entire tumours with a needle and image guidance. We often treat patients who have no other conventional treatment options or have such poor health that even minimally invasive surgery is too dangerous.’
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