Scientists have found that certain types of light can treat cancers on or near the skin when used with a special light-activated drug.
But cancers deep inside the body, surrounded by tissue, blood, and bone, have been hard to reach with light treatment.
To solve this problem, engineers and scientists at the University of Notre Dame have created a tiny wireless LED device that can be implanted into the body.
This device, used with a light-sensitive dye, not only destroys cancer cells but also helps the immune system fight the cancer. Their research is published in the journal Photodiagnosis and Photodynamic Therapy.
Thomas O’Sullivan, an associate professor of electrical engineering and co-author of the study, explained that different colors of light can penetrate tissue to different depths. Green light, which doesn’t penetrate as deeply, was found to be very effective in fighting cancer cells.
The process begins by administering a dye with light-absorbing molecules to the cancer cells. When the device is turned on, the dye converts the light into energy. This energy then makes the oxygen within the cancer cells toxic, essentially causing the cancer cells to attack themselves.
While other treatments also use the cells’ own oxygen to fight cancer, this device induces a unique form of cell death that is particularly effective.
Biochemistry graduate student Hailey Sanders and electrical engineering graduate student SungHoon Rho observed that the treated cells were swelling, indicating a type of cell death called pyroptosis. This kind of cell death is very good at triggering the immune system to attack the cancer.
Bradley Smith, a co-author and professor of science, mentioned that their goal is to induce a small amount of pyroptotic cell death to get the immune system to start attacking the cancer.
In future studies, the researchers plan to test the device in mice to see if killing one tumor with this method can prompt the immune system to attack other tumors in the body as well.
The device, about the size of a grain of rice, can be injected directly into a tumor and activated remotely by an external antenna. The goal is to not only use the device for treatment but also to monitor how the tumor responds. They can adjust the signal strength and timing as needed to optimize the treatment.
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The research findings can be found in Photodiagnosis and Photodynamic Therapy.
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