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Radioactive "Seeds" and 3D Printed "Shields" to Treat Prostate Cancer

posted by cmn32480 on Monday April 27 2015, @11:43PM   Printer-friendly
from the will-it-give-me-superpowers dept.

Phoenix666 writes:

A team from the Vancouver Cancer Center presented findings at the European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology that patients being treated with radioactive "seeds" (chunks of metal) and 3D printed "shields" survive twice as long as those undergoing conventional therapy.

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer affecting men, developing primarily in those over the age of 50. In 2012 there were 1.1 million reported cases with 307,000 deaths worldwide, and any improvement in treatment is bound to improve many lives. Brachytherapy is a highly cost-effective method, even though it requires long training and much experience to produce consistent results, according to James Morris, who led the Vancouver study.

Even with brachytherapy, though, there is room for improvement. Because the tumor is close to the radiation source, the dosage used is lower and thus the side-effects for healthy tissue aren't as bad. Still, implanted seeds release radiation in all directions.

A simple solution to minimize side-effects has been developed by researchers at Louisiana Tech University and University of Mississippi Medical Center. They created customizable 3D-printed shields for the low-dose-rate radioactive seeds used in prostate brachytherapy. The shields were made using a combination of plastic-forming raw material and barium sulphate, a chemical that is compatible with the human body's innards but also effective in stopping radiation.

This Brachytherapy gives those diagnosed with prostate cancer another option, for everyone else there's lycopene for prevention.

 
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  • (Score: 2, Interesting) by Jesus_666 on Tuesday April 28 2015, @07:56AM

    by Jesus_666 (3044) on Tuesday April 28 2015, @07:56AM (#175986)
    In the context of vitamin use the term "megadose" for a large dose beyond recommended levels is often used. Yes, it's improper use of an SI prefix but Merriam-Webster [merriam-webster.com] lists it as in use since 1971, Wiktionary [wiktionary.org] cites a Canadian government site only reachable via Wayback Machine these days [archive.org] discussing it and the Wikipedia article [wikipedia.org] cites one study [nih.gov] with "megavitamin" and "megamineral" in its name that does not advocate taking a million different vitamins.

    "Vitamin megadose" and "megavitamin therapy" both refer to the same thing: Taking huge amounts of one or more vitamins (with vitamin C being so popular it got its own Wikipedia article [wikipedia.org]) with intended results going from a modest "it's better for you" all the way to "vitamin C can cure everything" depending on who you ask.
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  • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Tuesday April 28 2015, @10:14AM

    by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday April 28 2015, @10:14AM (#176002) Journal
    Well, one more specific difference between a physicist and a physician.
    --
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford