Posted on 07/27/2021 7:05:57 AM PDT by Red Badger
All cancer is nasty, but some forms are nastier than others. Take glioblastoma, a thankfully rare form of tumor: It grows quickly and aggressively on the brain or brain stem, cannot be cured, and is almost always fatal.
It's also hard to treat, requiring intensive radio and chemotherapy that patients are often unable to complete. But scientists may have just found a new method: a noninvasive cap that uses an oscillating magnetic field to shrink the tumor.
The device was recently tested on a 53-year-old glioblastoma patient, whose tumor showed a remarkable 31 percent size reduction in a short time before the patient sadly passed away from an unrelated traumatic head injury.
"Thanks to the courage of this patient and his family, we were able to test and verify the potential effectiveness of the first noninvasive therapy for glioblastoma in the world," said neurosurgeon David S. Baskin of Houston Methodist Hospital.
"The family's generous agreement to allow an autopsy after their loved ones' untimely death made an invaluable contribution to the further study and development of this potentially powerful therapy."
Scans showing the reduction. (Baskin et al., Front. Oncol., 2021)
The helmet is mounted with three strong, rotating permanent magnets that generate an oscillating magnetic field. Using this technology, the researchers were able to reduce glioblastoma volume and mass in cell cultures and human glioblastoma cells grafted into mice (xenografts) in a laboratory setting.
The magnetic field, the researchers found, disrupts electron transport in the series of reactions mitochondria use to produce the chemical energy that powers our cells. However, this disruption only occurs in the presence of certain metabolism-enhancing compounds produced by tumor cells, which means the disrupted glioblastoma cells die off while healthy cells remain intact.
The patient had visited a doctor for "altered mental status" in May 2018, which led to the discovery of a large tumor that had spread across both frontal lobes and infiltrated the corpus callosum 'bridge' in-between.
In June that year, he underwent surgery to have the glioblastoma excised; unfortunately, the tumor grew back, and continued to grow despite aggressive treatment. As traditional treatments were no longer sufficient to his needs, he was approved to trial the magnetic helmet.
After signing informed consent documents in April 2020, the treatment commenced. For three days, the patient underwent the treatment in a clinic, while his spouse was trained in the care and use of the helmet. After this, he continued with treatment at home, starting with sessions of two hours per day, and increasing them to six hours.
In all, the treatment continued for 36 days. In this time, the glioblastoma shrunk by 31 percent, the researchers said, and the patient's caregivers reported an improvement in speech and cognitive function.
After 36 days, the treatment had to cease, since the patient had fallen and injured his head. Sadly, he passed away not long after.
Although the story has a tragic end, and this case study concerns just a single patient, these preliminary results are encouraging. The tumor reduction is consistent with previous observations on cell cultures and xenografted mice, and showed rapid reduction where the usual cancer treatments had failed to halt the growth.
If the helmet's efficacy can be demonstrated on other human patients, it may offer a much more gentle treatment option for one of the more horrendous forms of cancer.
"Imagine treating brain cancer without radiation therapy or chemotherapy," Baskin said.
"Our results in the laboratory and with this patient open a new world of non-invasive and nontoxic therapy for brain cancer, with many exciting possibilities for the future."
The research has been published in Frontiers in Oncology.
How about plain tinfoil?
I wonder if this treatment can be tailored to other types of cancer?
I would think so........................
What if you have graphenes floating around in your system?
Oh...
Given the topic and prototype device, I just knew these were going to come.
Funny.
Good news, thanks for posting.
If these jokers had ever seen someone die of glioma of the brainstem when there was absolutely no effective treatment,
they wouldn’t think this helmet was so funny.
How awsome of a discovery!
I have. My father’s sister lived just over 5 years after being diagnosed with oglioma. At the end, she died a horrible death that I would not wish on anyone. I do remember one experimental treatment involving her wearing a helmet while in a hospital room for several days and nobody could be within a certain distance to her. It didn’t help her for long.
AMA shills fill the media with accusations of “snake oil” at alternative medicine and the use of magnetism. All the while their masters, Pharma, are working on the same thing.
My nephew has an opportunity to try this on lung cancer mets on the brain. He declined. He has had two major lung surgeries, brain surgery invasive enough for him to have to learn to speak again , chemo and full brain radiation. He is a 30 year old who was in residency to be a heart surgeon. Sad to see him give up
My Dad died in May 1988 only 2 months after being diagnosed.
Neurosurgeon said with radiation treatment he would have a year.
Apparently, he lied through his teeth, because Dad went downhill fast in spite of treatment, and we couldn’t even get the neurosurgeon on the phone.
My wife just completed surgery to remove a massive glioblastoma tumor from her frontal lobe. They got all but a small piece. That doesn’t actually buy as much time as one would think.
She starts radiation and chemo in about 10 days and it lasts for 6 weeks. That is followed by more chemo. The tumor will grow back again and again until no treatment helps. They mentioned a device called Optune as a way to stop or slow the cancer growth using some type of electrical field. Just getting into the treatment options and nothing looks long lasting. If this helmet can kill the cancer, it will be a game changer.
Prayers up for your wife. I lost mine to cancer last year.
Hopefully, there has been many advances in treatment in the 30+ years since we lost our Dad. His tumor was inoperable because it was so diffuse and throughout the brainstem.
At that time, he only had a brainstem biopsy and radiation.
We were on our own after the radiation didn’t work, the doctors had nothing to offer so they avoided us.
I pray that this magnetic treatment is a breakthrough.
My nephew used the Optune for a year. It basically bought him an extra year of life. Hopefully this new magnetic helmet is even more effective.
Praying for your wife.
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