14 DAY TRIAL // Glioblastoma multiforme is one of the most aggressive forms of brain cancer, and one that is deadly in the vast majority of cases. There is a small number of methods to stop its growth at this point, and even fewer that actually have an effect, no matter how small. Now, experts propose that combining regular chemotherapy with the use of electrical fields around neurons may be one possible way of slowing the progression of this terrible disease. Israel-based NovoCure has already created a device that can generate electrical fields in a manner that can disrupt the evolution of cancer.
Technology Review reports that the early results the device had on the trial subjects were very promising. NovoCure is just a fresh start-up, having been founded no earlier than 2000. However, in just less than a decade, it managed to develop a groundbreaking, new system of addressing the threats and perils of glioblastoma multiforme. According to the test results of the ten patients that initially started using the system after they had been diagnosed with the form of cancer, seven are alive to this day (four years later), and five (50 percent) show no signs of cancer progression.
The drawback of the system is that it includes a three-kilogram battery, which the patient needs to carry everywhere with them. The power source is connected to a number of two electrodes, placed in the close proximity of the affected brain regions. The battery constantly emits a low-intensity electrical field in their immediate surrounding, which rapidly alternates. This doesn't have any effects on normal cells, but prevents all the replicating cells that undergo the process when they are active. As glioblastoma multiforme forces its cells to divide very fast, its evolution is significantly curbed by this method.
“Practically all chemotherapies are designed to hit specific receptors on cancer cells, and they are usually targeted to very specific types or even subtypes of cancer,” the founder and Director of NovoCure, physiologist Yoram Palti, says. “I was looking for a single modality that would be effective against most, if not all, types of cancer, without the negative effects of radiation,” he adds, speaking about the electrical fields. “In the lab, [the fields are] effective against all types of cancer cells we tested,” the expert concludes.