德克萨斯大学:研究人员利用紫外线杀死老鼠体内的癌细胞
University of Texas: Researchers use UV light to kill cancer cells in mice
紫外线会杀死癌细胞
科幻小说一再展示紫外线作为对抗夜间吸血生物的武器,但现在,硬科学给了这种方法一种对付日常生活中真正危险的方法:癌症。早期测试结果表明,该方法具有很高的应用价值。
化疗对癌症患者来说是一个毁灭性的治疗过程。它使病人感到无力,希望至少能争取更多的时间,最多能减轻痛苦。它是为数不多的难以触及或无法手术的肿瘤的治疗选择之一,也是人们能面对的最尝试的治疗方法之一。
根据Engadget的说法,一种新的实验疗法在实验室测试中显示出了很有希望的结果,仅在两小时内就消除了老鼠体内95%的目标癌细胞。这种治疗方法基于一种名为“光遗传学”的实验概念,它利用光对抗癌细胞。这种方法可能会给那些被认为高危的病人另一种治疗方法。
可以制造疫苗的物质-包括活的和死的细菌、细胞和病毒。
这个过程描述简单,而且没有其他方法的侵入性。研究人员首先将化学物质硝基苯甲醛注射到肿瘤中,并给予它在细胞中扩散的时间。然后他们将一束紫外线聚焦在肿瘤上。
这种联合作用导致细胞变得极度酸性,进而导致细胞死亡。德克萨斯大学圣安东尼奥分校的副教授,研究员Matthew Gdovin告诉《医学新闻》,“尽管有很多不同类型的癌症,但它们有一个共同之处,就是对这种诱导细胞自杀的易感性。”
阳光中的UVB 可以穿透皮肤的毛细血管壁,杀伤杀死循环肿瘤细胞(CTC), 相当于给身体制造肿瘤疫苗。
这种方法的一个好处是,它允许对身体的特定区域进行治疗,而不像化疗影响整个身体。这也是一种侵入性小得多的方法,因为它只需要注射硝基苯甲醛和一束紫外线。
虽然目前还没有广泛应用,但研究人员希望,对于那些在脑干、主动脉或脊柱等外科医生难以治疗的区域有肿瘤的患者来说,它将很快成为一种可行的治疗选择。对于那些接受了尽可能多的辐射治疗的人或有辐射治疗突变风险的儿童来说,这也是一种选择。
Researchers use UV light to kill cancer cells in mice
ultraviolet light kills cancer cells optogenetics imetronic
Optogenics Research Equipment Creative Commons
Science fiction has repeatedly displayed ultraviolet light as a weapon against blood-sucking creatures of the night, but now hard science is giving the method a shot against a real everyday danger: cancer. Early test results indicate that it has the potential to be highly effective.
Chemotherapy can be a devastating course of treatment for cancer patients. It enervates patients in hope of buying more time at the very least, and remission at best. It is one of the few treatment options for hard-to-reach or inoperable tumors, and is one of the most trying treatments that one can face.
A new experimental treatment has shown promising results in lab tests, eliminating 95 percent of targeted cancer cells in mice in only two hours, according to Engadget. The treatment is based on an experimental concept called optogentics, which uses light in the fight against cancer cells. This method may give patients who were considered too high-risk for other treatments another option.
The process is simple in description, as well as less invasive than other methods. Researchers first inject the chemical nitrobenzaldehyde into the tumor, and give it time to spread throughout the cells. They then focus a beam of ultraviolet light on the tumor.
The combined effect causes cells to become extremely acidic, which in turn causes the cells to die. Researcher Matthew Gdovin, an associate professor at the University of Texas San Antonio told Medical Xpress, “Even though there are many different types of cancers, the one thing they have in common is their susceptibility to this induced cell suicide.”
One benefit to this type of approach is it allows treatment to a specific region of the body, unlike chemotherapy that affects the entire body. It is also a much less intrusive method, as it only requires an injection of the nitrobenzaldehyde and a flash of ultraviolet light.
While not yet widely available, researchers hope that it will soon be a viable treatment option for those who have tumors in areas that are difficult for surgeons to treat, such as the brain stem, aorta, or spine. It would also be an option for those who have had the maximum possible radiation treatment or children at risk of mutation from radiation treatment.
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https://www.digitaltrends.com/health-fitness/ultraviolet-light-kills-cancer-cells/