Medical Breakthrough: Physicians discovered oddest way to kill cancer cells
Cancer might be the most unbeatable flaw in the chemistry of human body. It took the lives of countless people and now, doctors and medical experts are still searching for an effective treatment that could fight off these life-threatening cells once and for all. Though there’s chemotherapy and surgery that could downshift and decelerate these cells, it’s pertinacious and could appear any time, especially during times when you least expect it. Long years of research have led to unproductive results so this time, doctors are trying out a new technique to eliminate these stubborn cells – by taking them into space. Could it work this time?
When cancer cells are placed under microgravity, they die even without external treatments. Due to this information, doctors from the University of Technology Sydney are looking for possibility that if they send some samples of cancer cells into space, it might actually be an effective way to kill them. Thus, they want to send samples into space to prove if this is true.
Microgravity
Microgravity impact the capacity of cells to communicate with each other and their environment. When a human body is out in space, the cells begin to undergo a condition known as mechanical unloading. This means that there’s an absence of force because of the lack of gravity. It impacts how the cells move, how they dictate their survivability, and how they function. This is according to the head doctor of the project Joshua Chou.
The doctors have dedicated US$200,000 to export live samples of cancer cells to the International Space Station or ISS the following year. This is their only way to prove that the theory that they’ve created was right. The cancer cells will be stored in a container that’s about the same size to a tissue box and it will be sent to the outer space from the ISS.
Not a treatment
This is not a treatment or the ultimate cure to cancer, however it can help increase the effectiveness of existing drug treatments, therapies, and other methods that can alleviate the symptoms of cancer.
There are also other researches that are trying to combat these deadly cells in a different approach. For instance, Vladimir Zharov, the director of nanomedical center in the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences is currently running a laser that has the ability to precisely identify and kill cancer cells. When you shoot the laser light to the skin, the melanin will absorb it in the blood. It will begin to heat up and the water that surround the melanin cells will evaporate. The bubble formation will then spread and collapse, causing the cancer cells to completely die in the blood. This procedure doesn’t damage the neighboring cells since they are not affected by the laser.
It might be impossible to send an actual human to space because it would be too expensive for a regular citizen to afford. However, with the utilization of microgravity chamber, fighting cancer would be much easier, if the experiment is effective.