Another Cure For Cancer
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School say they've killed melanomas in mice using high-powered jolts
of electricity.
Using extremely short, high-voltage doses of electricity, the
researchers told the Virginian-Pilot they've never had a tumor that
did not respond to the treatment.
Richard Nuccitelli, associate professor of electrical and computer
engineering at Old Dominion, said the method might eventually turn
into an effective cancer treatment.
The electric bursts often disrupted the blood flow to the tumor cells
and shrunk their nuclei by 50 percent, Nuccitelli said. The tumors
died after two or three weeks of treatments, each session involving
hundreds of electrical pulses, each less than one-one millionth of a
second and carrying 4,000 volts.
Nuccitelli told the Virginian-Pilot he and his colleagues believe the
process works by severely damaging DNA in the cells. The treatment
produced no scarring and did not harm adjacent cells. All of the
research mice survived, with no ill effects.
The scientists said additional research will be needed before they can
experiment on people.
The research is to appear online Wednesday in the journal Biochemical
and Biophysical Research Communications.
Copyright 2006 by United Press International