One step closer to creating a new treatment method cancer which will be based on light, this is a scientific group from the UK.

This futuristic treatment involves the introduction of a special drug with antibodies that will be activated by light. Researchers at the University of East Anglia (UEA) have created cancer-fighting antibody fragments that fuse with their target and are activated by light.

Tiny LEDs will then be placed on the skin or implanted at the site of the tumor. Thus, the antibodies will be activated by light to attack the cancer cells.

Scientists believe that specific light therapy will be more targeted and effective than conventional cancer treatments.

How it works

Head of the relevant study, dr. Amit Sachdeva reports that there has been an increase in demand for new, precise, side-effect-free cancer treatments.

“Existing cancer treatments such as chemotherapy kill cancer cells, but they can also damage healthy cells in the body. So we have side effects such as hair loss, vomiting and feeling tired, while patients face an increased risk of disease,” he notes.

Explaining how the treatment his team is developing works, he points out: “The antibodies are activated at the site of the tumor and attach to their target by being activated by light. You can activate antibodies to attack cancer cells with light, either directly on the skin, in the case of skin cancer, or with small LED lights that are implanted where the tumor is inside the body.”

“Only cells close to the tumor will be activated, other cells will not be affected. In this way, side effects for patients can be reduced and the residence time of antibodies in the body can be improved.”

The researchers note, of course, that this treatment will be effective for skin cancers or solid tumors, but not for blood cancers such as leukemia.

If successful research continues, scientists believe that a new generation of cancer treatments could be used in patients within the next five to ten years.

The study, funded by the UK Biotechnology and Life Sciences Research Council and the Wellcome Trust, was published in “Chemical Biology of Nature”.

According to the Independent