New method to treat prostate and pancreatic cancer with lasers
Laser light in combination with certain drugs – known as
photodynamic therapy – can destroy cancer tumors. But, this
method is currently used mostly to cure skin cancer. The reason
that internal tumors are not treated with photodynamic therapy
is that the technology does not exist to check that the precise
amount of light is administered. However, software developed by
researchers in atomic physics at Lund University in Sweden looks
like it may solve the problem. The software’s unique feature is
that it uses optical fibres for more than simply emitting light.
Intermittently, they also gather information about the tumor,
which they send back to the laser instrument. According to the
researchers, the software could also be used with other light
therapies that use LEDs or infra-red lasers.