Star Trek Meets Cancer Therapy
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| Taken from ref. 1. |
Recently, scientists have proposed a new method to target site-directed therapy of tumors using a combination of lasers, nanotubes, antibodies, and surface plasmon technology (2). A characteristic drawback to cancer therapy/chemotherapy is that usually healthy cells are also affected by the treatment as the malignant cells, resulting in general tissue destruction; consequently, many researchers are working to develop methods of directly targeting the cancer cells for in situ therapy.
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| Illustration: Monash University (taken from ref. 2) |
Australian researchers have proposed the use of spasers (not to be confused with lasers!) in the treatment of cancer. Spasers are similar to lasers except that surface plasmons are used in lieu of light. Carbon nanotubes conjugated to a tumor-specific antibodies would be directed to the surface of the cancer cell where the surface plasmons are located. Then, a laser is used to excite the carbon nanotubes that then excite the surface plasmon; therefore, by exciting the surface plasmon, heat is generated. The wavelength of light used in the laser is such that it can penetrate the skin and various layers to reach the cancerous tissues. This heat then kills only the localized cancerous tissue in theory. For more information on the use of surface plasmon in general, see the youtube video below. The link to the IEEE Spectrum article can be found below the video.
Tiny Cancer-Killing Death Rays: Spaser Therapy Proposed
References:
- http://s3.amazonaws.com/rapgenius/1378481270_tumblr_lnvejzf2Vp1qcvxceo1_500.gif
- http://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/biomedical/devices/spaserpowered-cancer-therapy
As a Star Trek fan, this makes me extremely happy. Just one more thing that science and technology is replicating from the imaginative minds of writers reaching beyond the capabilities of their day. The idea itself is very interesting and I would like to see someone pick it up to do the research. I'm wondering why they chose to make it with graphene rather than the gold and silica shell that it usually is made with.
ReplyDeleteAs for the more targeted attack, that is something I know there are MANY people working on. Anyone who has seen someone go through cancer therapy knows that (when it works) the patient is generally much sicker right after the treatment, many of their healthy cells being damaged in the process. If they are able to assemble these structures and have a much more narrowed attack on tumors along with a drug being administered at the same time, the results may lead to faster recovery for the patient and a healthier end result.
I wonder, if experiments are done and it is found to be successful, if this set-up might be used in order to treat tumors that are in areas that are difficult to get to, say some brain tumors. If the targeting works so well, would it be possible to perhaps treat patients that otherwise would have died? I'm not sure how or even if it's possible as the brain is so intricate. However, if experiments are done with other types of tumors with success, it might be worth checking out whether it could be adapted for brain tumors.
Also, I would like to know what kind of drug they planned to use. Would it just be one that destroys the tumor, or would it have the ability to keep new tumors from forming? It would make sense that they would want to have something that would help destroy the tumor, but would it be possible to have more than one drug so that it can't reform? Or would that be something that the patient would take along with the treatment so that as their tumors are destroyed they don't pop up anywhere else?
I feel like I have more questions than answers, mostly because I don't know very much about cancer treatment, but that this idea could potentially be wonderful. I would like to see someone venture to use this design and find out whether it can be beneficial or not.
I think this is a great idea and probably will yield great results in future cancer treatments. One of the main problems in the current cancer treatments are the side effects. Most, if not all, cancer treatments have some form of side effects. Thus, developing cancer treatment with minimal side effects would spare many cancer patients from dealing with the side effects of treatments and the cancer itself, as well as a better life style. My only question about this therapy is, if it is to work as expected, is what happens to the cancerous tissue that is killed by the heat? Is the body able to get rid of the tissue properly or would intervention be required? Overall if we are capable of specifically targeting cancer cells via carbon nanotubes, we can create many different forms of treatment for cancer. I believe this would be a great start for a new and better way of cancer therapy as well as other diseases.
ReplyDeleteGeorgia, I believe they chose graphene because it is stronger than gold nanoparticles. Graphene is just a one-carbon atom layer sheet, and even though it is very lightweight, it is 100 times stronger than steel. It also conducts heat and electricity very efficiently.
ReplyDeleteNow this is something I would personally like to invest research in for the treatment of cancer. Researchers have looking for a method to kill cancer cells without damaging healthy cells for a while, and I think this technology could one of the answers.
The fact that this technology could possibly kill the cancer cells with heat AND deliver drugs to the tumor itself is pretty advance. Very science fiction. Since the main reason for this is to prevent healthy cell damage in cancer treatment, then that is what this new technology needs to improve and focus on.
I agree with Heather! Killing cancer cells and delivering drugs simultaneously is an incredible and very futuristic technique for treating cancer. But I enjoy reading articles like this. Even though the experiments haven't been done yet and there isn't solid proof that the design would be as effective as hoped for, I love seeing the process of new ideas working their way to reality. As other comments above have mentioned, cancer treatment has unfortunate side effects. The possibility of lessening or eliminating these side effects while still being able to treat cancer is exciting!
ReplyDeleteIt’s hard for me to imagine heat being present and only directed at one cell. Is there a possibility that this would not work as simply as it is explained? Could the heat produced, however concentrated, still be somewhat harmful to the surrounding healthy cells?
I look forward to reading more about this and I hope that someone takes the design and runs with it! Of course, the amount of research and experimentation that must be done before this theory is completely factual is extensive. But the idea is so full of hope, especially for a world that is becoming increasingly worried about health issues. For that reason, I hope future research is successful and quick. And, I hope for that reason, people meet Jesus. (faith integration)
Wow! Astounding, as someone who has personally watched someone battle cancer it brings me immense joy knowing that new treatments are being developed. One of the hardest things to watch was my loved one suffer through the side affects of the treatment itself. They often felt worse after chemo and radiation treatments. From what I read it seems as if this treatment has a great chance of yielding to successful results. I was most impressed by the work of spasers.One of the problems with current cancer treatments is that because it does not target cancerous cells, healthy cells are killed in the process. My only concern is can this work for cancers that are caught later on? Will this treatment still work when the cancer has spread to a vast majority of the body?
ReplyDeleteLooks like space wasn't the final frontier after all, eh? We've still got cancer biology! Spaser technology sounds amazing! Quantifying the kinetics of cell-bound proteins seems as if it would hold considerable potential for understanding the physiology of many processes in the body. Essentially, this theory sounds like radiation therapy except that it would target individual cells rather than a beam being focused on thousands or millions of cells at a time. They also suggest that a more localized chemotherapy approach could be utilized with the graphene nanotubes. If their theory is correct, this would greatly improve upon the current targeting methods of chemotherapy, which attacks rapidly multiplying cells (hence, hair, digestive tract, sperm in men). I guess you could say that if this therapy works, more people could live long and prosper....Hmm... I'll just show myself out...
ReplyDeleteSci fi franchises like that of Star Trek have been the inspiration for science. Causing science to look outside the normal realms of research, the theoretical is becoming reality. It was with Star Trek we saw the birth of the cell phone. "Beam me up Scotty" originated as a phrase in the series to communicate with the Enterprise. From the television series birthed the cell phone. Perhaps the Regina Kings of the world will finally respect the science Scifi "nerds". They did invent the idea of "life" for them. The science behind the idea of spasers could be the next big technology from this genre. Using these methods to target specific cancer cells, a more direct approach to killing cancer cells can alleviate normal cell death. Theoretically this idea sounds promising, however I am still in need of convincing this can be a radical method of treatment for cancer.
ReplyDeleteThis treatment would be awesome! The way cancer patients are treated nowadays almost seems like a form of human torture. It's as though a shotgun is being used to shoot at a pea sized target rather than a using tweezers to pluck out the pea. This spaser method would be ideal since it only targets the cancer cells instead of obliterating everything in it's path (hair follicles, digestive tract lining, etc.). Perhaps this would be a much more pleasant and successful form of cancer treatment.
ReplyDeleteI love to hear of the new treatments for cancer. Cancer hits home for a lot of people. It is difficult watching so many people suffer from cancer and the side effects of the various cancer treatments. It is inspiring to hear researchers proposing and testing treatments that will only target the cancer cells and not every cell in the body. It is sad to me that the only treatment out there right now has so many side effects and that cancer is viewed as just a business. I cannot wait until the day the cure for cancer is released and that everyone benefits from it.
ReplyDeleteThis is an amazing article! It is always fascinating to see how researchers from seemingly unrelated fields can benefit from each other’s knowledge. The use of spasers, carbon nanotubes, and synthesized antibodies to precisely target cancers is truly an ingenious approach. The antibodies allow an effective delivery system to allow the carbon nanotubes and spasers to be in extremely close proximity to the cancerous cells. This helps to prevent subsequent tissue damage which is one of the major concerns of current cancer treatments such as chemotherapies. Another very useful benefit of this technology is that it can be done with minimal invasiveness. The light use to activate the spasers has a small enough wavelength that it can penetrate through the skin and still activate the spasers. It will be interesting to see how effective this technique will be in reducing tumor size. Some negative side effects that seem likely would be an uncomfortably hot sensation that could even result in extreme pain if the cancerous cell was located close to a nerve. However, I believe extreme pain would be a rare side effect and that the potential benefits of this technique warrant immediate research into its clinical effects in animal models.
ReplyDeleteWhile I have never seen Star Trek and don't understand the reference, this still seems like a really great and novel idea! I really like Jessica's analogy for cancer treatment as it stands today. Chemotherapy is extremely painful and exhausting for patients who are already weakened from the cancer itself. It is also not very efficient as it wastes time and energy targeting the "good" cells as well as the bad. I assume that there would still be some side effects from this treatment (if proven to be effective), but I highly doubt that they would be nearly as hard on patients as chemotherapy is. It is so encouraging to see progress being made in this field, and it would be great to see this eventually emerge as an actual cancer treatment.
ReplyDeleteDespite the enormous medical advances of the past century, cancer remains the plight of our century. Cancer has been the subject of exhaustive research and has even withstood the “War on Cancer” of the 1960’s. In spite of science’s best efforts, cancer has been resilient in resisting almost every imaginable therapy. Current cancer treatments typically resort to radiation and chemotherapy (which indiscriminately kill malignant and non-malignant cells). Even though Gleevec shows some promise, it does not demonstrate the remission rates physicians are searching for. This new treatment involving spasers is fascinating. This treatment would ensure that only cancerous cells are attacked, while healthy cells are left alone.
ReplyDeleteThe use of spasers for treatment show tremendous promise. Through the magnification of “suface plasmons,” cancerous cells would be surround with tiny lasers, which allows specific cancer cells to be targeted. Plasmons are slight electrical changes in the electron clouds of metallic objects. Made from microscopic gold building blocks and enveloped by silica and cadmium sulfate tubes, spacers would provide a durable tool for therapeutic treatments. Improvements on the original design (involving carbon nanotubes) have also been proposed. This research is extremely interesting and may prove to be the next breakthrough in cancer research.
Okay, this was actually really cool. Not that your other post aren't cool... :) Anyways, these spasers just go to show how quickly technology is advancing. This treatment is definitely has promise, but even more so if it doesn't show any side effects. Recently, I saw a treatment for cancer that was using nanobots to destroy cancer cells. The future is definitely bright in the fight against cancer. I can't wait to see what other methods they come up with!
ReplyDeleteThis is an incredible and ingenious method of getting rid of cancerous cells by targeting them directly, potentially without damaging the unaffected cells nearby. This has enormous potential as an alternative to chemotherapy and other dangerous methods in practice today. It reminds me a lot of Hal Burdo's capstone presentation, in which he suggested using RF therapy to target and kill cancer cells. He proposed injecting gold nanoparticles into cancerous cells, and then targeting those cells with harmless radio waves. These radio waves would not harm the healthy cells nearby (our bodies are frequently exposed to radio waves on a daily basis with no ill effects). However, those radio waves would heat up the gold particles to such a temperature that it would cause apoptosis in the cancer cells. Both Hal's method and this new method outlined in the article have great potential in aiding cancer patients without destroying their bodies in the process.
ReplyDeleteThis is so awesome! Its crazy to think of all of the new and exciting treatments that we are coming up with. I believe that in the future we will look back into the past at how we used such harmful methods like radiation to cure things and think that its completely barbaric. It makes me so happy that this could potentially help individuals with their cancer treatment! This spaser is really amazing and so exciting. I am really curious as to how much it would cost to make it, if it would be cost effective, what kinds of side effects it would have, and other stuff though too. Ideas like this make me really happy and excited for the future and different treatments for other diseases.
ReplyDeleteScience is so cool! I love the combination of physics, chemistry, and biology used to dream up this “sci-fi” cancer-killing device. This really reminds me that every aspect of the knowledge I am gaining now is useful in the field I plan on going into.
ReplyDeleteIn chemotherapy, all cells (not just the cancerous cells) are affected, causing serious consequences to the patient’s well being. To be able to target the specific cancer cells is something that could greatly increase the quality of life for cancer patients. As soon as I read this article, I thought of the principle that ELISA was made upon. If you want to recognize an antigen, you make an antibody for it and then add a secondary antibody conjugated to an enzyme to recognize the primary antibody. In this way, you can recognize the presence and quantity of a specific antigen. This uses similar methods, except that these antibodies are delivered through nanotubes (how cool!). The spasers can then excite only the cancerous cells and kill them, through the use of heat. To be able to design such a device is incredibly impressive since, as I mentioned before, this idea uses so many different science specialties.
This makes me wonder what other immunological processes could be taken advantage of for the purpose of targeting cancer cells. In a study done by Wan et al., it is suggested that increasing expression of Major Histocompatibility Complex I (MHC I) in breast cancer cells could enhance antitumor immune response during chemotherapy (1). Although this is not nearly as cool as a spaser, this type of treatment could enhance the efficacy of current treatment prior to the actual creation of the spaser.
Overall, the use of integrated science for the purpose of medical treatment is a great reminder to all of us that truly dedicating ourselves to what we are studying now is worth it. We will need the physics, calculus, chemistry, and biology in our fields to understand treatments such as this.
1. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3291570/
This is definitely an interesting article because the topic of cancer has always been close to my family. As some know, my grandmother died of an extremely aggressive type of stomach cancer which eventually moved into other parts of her body and then her spine which eventually lead to death. One thing that the whole family had to see was her transformation from a healthy and lively Italian woman, to someone who was barely a ghost of her former self. The cancer treatments that they gave to her were extremely taxing upon her and I now know that this was because of the non-specificity of the treatments. This kind of research is incredible and really excites me because I know that it may lead to bettering many peoples lives in the future, not just those experiencing the cancer, but those who are the loved ones of the patient.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that I would be concerned about this is that the light laser that they have to use in this method to excite the nanoparticles has to pass through, potentially, many layers of skin, muscle, and possibly bone in order to reach the target. Won't such a strong beam of light, cast for long enough to cause heat in the internal and deep parts of the person, cause fairly severe burns on the epidermis of the patient? Is it possible to instead try to find a chemical target to excite the nano-particles instead of a laser? Possibly using an exothermic reaction might save burns and scarring on the outside. Now I do understand that it will be difficult to create a reaction that will be hot enough to kill the cancerous cell, naturally occur, and not be toxic to the patient, but I believe that this method will, in the long run, be better for the patients quality of life.
It is absolutely amazing that researchers found a therapy that can delete cancerous tissue! This discovery will help many lives who have this evil disease. This life changing news to patients, however, I wonder if there are any side effects after this treatment? Would it ultimately effect healthy cells in the long run? It is obvious that this therapy needs to be tested more.
ReplyDeleteI find spacer therapy to be too good to be true. My question is, what is the catch? If this is supposed to be such a wonderful alternative for curing cancer, why is it that I have never heard of it before? Why is it that all I hear about is that the cancer treatment we have now is not nearly as affective as it could be, due to the destruction of the surrounding healthy cells?
ReplyDeleteThis is really interesting and exciting. People who go through typical cancer treatment have so much pain and so many bad side effects because the treatments also attack their healthy cells. It is great to think that might not be the case in the future.
ReplyDeleteThis was such a cool article and video. It is amazing to hear of the constant progress scientists and doctors are finding in the fight against cancer. Dr. Schraw said a few weeks ago in class that although progress is being made, it is very slow. At times it feel like it's two steps forward, one step back. But the future is optimistic with technologies like this. All it will take is one revolutionary technology to drastically alter the landscape in the fight against cancer. I hope this technology specifically continues to develop and it eventually utilized in human tissue. Thanks for the share!
ReplyDeleteAlthough this idea is good in theory, I wonder if it the use of the laser will cause side effects similar to that of radiation? Often times, a single patient undergoes several types of cancer treatment – will this completely eliminate chemotherapy and radiation treatments, or will it have to be used in conjunction? Will it even make it through the testing phase? If the spasers are made of gold nanoparticles, will the treatment even be affordable if it does work? I am always a bit hesitant to get excited about new innovations such as this one.
ReplyDeleteWith that in mind, it’s a field that is ever changing, and new developments are always welcome. Their idea to combine their lasers with medication is a great idea. I would very much like to see a prototype of this technology, so that they can begin testing.
This seems like one of the more fascinating techniques that are being developed to help fight cancer. I am huge Sci-Fi fan but have never been that wrapped up in Star Trek. Even the term spaser has me fascinated about this technique. The fact that they are using surface plasmons in order to direct the laser straight toward the desired topics seems very promising. My family has had a long history of friends and family being affected by cancer. Some of the hardest moments came from seeing what treating cancer did to the person. It seemed like the treatment was more harmful than the disease at some points. However, with this technology it will be interesting to see, if any side effects become associated with it. If they are able to accurately target and attack the cancer then what other doors could this open? Will it be a process that continues to gain strength or one that we only read about for a short period of time? I'm eager to follow this new technique and to see how it progresses in the future.
ReplyDeleteIf they developed this to be an actual treatment that works in the battle against cancer that would be amazing! The current methods work to an extent but if they can alter it to where the treatments only attack the cancer cells and not the normal healthy cells surrounding the cancer, that would be huge for the cancer community. As for the Star Trek relation, I didn't grow up watching sci-fi and wasn't a huge fan of even Star Wars. However, if my dad had heard about this and the spaser he would find it very interesting. With this new technology or proposal of using surface plasmons to go straight at the cancer is an idea that should be tried using cell culture. I think by starting at a molecular level, a therapy can be made to eventually be tried in model organisms and maybe humans.
ReplyDeleteWhen I think of this idea the first thing that comes to mind is how much money this treatment will cost. Spasers.. Gold nano particles.. this sounds like an extremely expensive treatment. I know sometimes insurance companies don't recognize some treatments therefore the middle class person might not be able to afford it. However, if the treatment shows enough promising results insurance agencies might start covering it. I also am worried for the patient who undergoes this treatment. For me to be convinced I'd have to see a lot of case studies to look at the side effects the treatment will have on the patient. The concept however is just down right awesome. I can't think of any other medical treatment that caught my eye like this one did.
ReplyDeleteThe usage of these "spasers" seems quite remarkable as a method of, from what is explained, helping mark these cancerous cells for destruction. Whether or not this method actually works or is effective enough remains to be seen but the importance of looking into this kind of research bears great weight and importance.
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting approach to helping treat cancer, my initial question would be what about the radiation effect of heat? For sufficient heat to be generated to kill the cells, I doubt that other cells that are not cancerous will be completely unaffected. Although this is a bit nitpicky due to the fact that overall it will do a lot less collateral damage compared to other treatment forms it’s still something to be considered especially for cases such as brain cancer and the like, in areas of the body that are more sensitive. Aside from that however, it seems like an innovative way to think about cancer cell treatment opposed to medicinally or via radiation, which can have more systemic effects. Although the chemical breakdown of the dead cells may be another effect to consider.
ReplyDeleteIt's encouraging to know that there are new discoveries and treatments that are being used to fight cancer. It will be interesting to see if this treatment will be effective or not, or if it will even be affordable. It sounds like a great method if costs don't get in the way. If I'm being honest, I never watched Star Trek, however this is still an amazing tie to something that isn't in the medical field.
ReplyDeleteI believe that spasers is a great idea! It is phenomenal that they are trying to solve this devastating problem. Cancer is painful enough. It's awesome that they have found a way to save the healthy cells in the process of curing cancer. I encourage future study, so that patients can have the best care possible.
ReplyDeleteThis method of treating cancer seems promising, but can also be discouraging for those who will not be able to afford something so technologically advanced as this. I volunteer at a cancer center, and time and time again the patients complain and debate even getting chemo, because they think it is pointless. They feel like they are destroying their bodies even more than they need to, for a small chance of helping their cancer. That is the sad reality of chemo. A method like this may change cancer patients viewpoints of treatments, as it will not kill their healthy cells, and hopefully help their side effects. I hope a method such as this pulls through because progress towards new cancer treatments has been slow. You know what they say though, slow and steady wins the race. Anyways, this is a great, fresh approach to cancer.
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