A recent scientific study by UK’s Sheffield University shows a direct relationship between hospital MRI scans used to detect cancer and the ability for physicians to select the best possible therapy options for killing cancer-causing tumors. In fact, the research team from this renowned university utilizes the magnetic power of MRI’s to control the navigational path of specific injectable cancer treatments.
So far, the therapy has proven successful in mice, but years of further research are required before we can successfully determine if the method can be used in humans. If all goes well, the way in which doctors treat cancer patients, with hard-to-reach tumors that are almost impossible to remove, will be revolutionized. Tumors located in dangerous areas of the body, like the spinal column and brain, might be surgically removed without damaging neighboring healthy tissue and before the cancer spreads further throughout the body.
Search and Destroy With MRI’s
By specifically targeting only the cancerous cells, the MRI method will hopefully destroy the tumors without fear of accidentally damaging other critically important areas of the brain or spinal cord. The treatment has proven successful when the injectable cancer-fighting medicine was used on mice with prostate cancer that had already spread to the lungs. The potentially miraculous therapy was created by combining healthy human white blood cells with a special cancer-killing virus. After the treatment was injected, the researchers then used the MRI magnets to essentially dictate the very pathway in which the medicine traveled.
The Future Looks Bright For MRI
According to Dr. Munitta Muthana and many of her colleagues, this technique is one of the most promising to date, largely due to its ability to combine already available technology and treatment methods. The therapy also shows signs of being very fast-acting, too. Within 30-minutes to an hour, the mice showed signs of remarkable improvement. And because doctors can track the precise pathway and location of the injected medicine, Muthana is hopeful that the treatment will be well-received by the medical community once it is finalized.
Using viruses to kill cancer cells and tumors in nothing new. Physicians and medical researchers have been experimenting with this concept for years. The main obstacle has always been in the inability to predict where the medicine will travel. If the MRI method proves successful, doctors can specifically target individual tumors, and we might be closer to an ultimate cure for cancer.
