http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/49474.html
Sniper’ to kill cancer
JAMES MOREAN October 25 2005
A CANCER treatment which eliminates the need for chemotherapy or surgery could be available within five years, a Scots scientist said yesterday.
Pioneering research at Dundee University has refined "sniper treatment" which fires ultrasound waves to destroy cancer cells, while ensuring that surrounding healthy tissues remain untouched.
The researchers said that hospitals would be able to perform the treatment by undertaking only minor modifications to their existing ultrasound equipment.
In a paper published in the journal Nature-Physics yesterday, the team members described how they harnessed military camera technology to discover how the sniper treatment kills cancer cells.
Scientists compared the use of gas micro-bubbles stimulated by a burst of ultrasound energy to a bullet which creates an "entrance wound" and allows anti-cancer drugs directly into the cell.
Their findings pave the way for the first human clinical trials of the technique, which is designed to be effective against the majority of cancers.
It has already undergone successful animal trials in the US.
The team, led by Dr Paul Campbell and Professor Alfred Cuschieri, is applying for funding to begin clinical trials on patients with liver and skin cancer at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee.
Dr Campbell said: "Conventional cancer treatment usually requires surgery to cut out the diseased tissues, causing significant trauma, pain and discomfort to the patient. This new ultrasound treatment can focus energy directly to a tumour site inside the body and deliver a single blast of energy, without harming any surrounding tissues.
"The benefits are clear: no incisions, no scars, no trauma and a much reduced chance of MRSA infection."
Professor John Toy, Cancer Research UK's medical director, sounded a note of caution: ". . . this technique, yet to be tested in humans, is still a very long way from being a possible alternative approach. Until . . . the technique has gone through clinical trials we won't know if it will prove to be an effective initial treatment for patients."
Excellent news. Kudos to these Dundee scientists.