Washington: Scientists in the US claimed to have discovered a technology that can detect cancerous tumours and treat them without harming the healthy cells, thereby, significantly reducing side effects.
Researchers at the University of Rhode Island said the technology can detect cancerous tumours and deliver treatment to them without harming the healthy cells and it could also be used to monitor other disease development and treatment.
"The key of the technique lies in the acidity level of cells. While normal cells maintain a pH of 7.4 with little variation, cancer cells expend a great deal of energy as they
rapidly proliferate, pumping protons outside and creating an extracellular pH level of 5.5 to 6.5. (The lower the number, the higher the acidity)," scientists Yana Reshetnyak and Oleg Andreev said.
Andreev said it is possible that one day their detection method could be used as a universal procedure, similar to mammography or colonoscopies and their harmless imaging test could locate a problem before the patient feels ill.The researchers suggest their discovery method could play an important role in the study of arthritis, inflammation, infection, infraction and stroke since those conditions also
produce high acidity.
Though scientists have known about tumour acidity for years but this is the first time they have devised a way to target the cancer cells.
Bureau Report