3 ms·

The ultra-fast cancer treatments which could replace conventional radiotherapy

129 points by bentocorp 2y ago

toomuchtodo 2y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proton_therapy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proton_therapy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proton_therapy#FLASH_therapy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proton_therapy#FLASH_therapy
AIorNot 2y ago
This is such a great example of why pursing knowledge for knowledge sake in pure science leads to advancement in areas we might not expect…
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
linsomniac 2y ago
I sure hope they make some progress because current treatment seems pretty archaic. My wife recently went through chemo and rad. I'm thankful that I was able to go to her treatments, because the first chemo. Shortly after it started, I pointed out that she was really flush and had started "breathing funny" (kind of repeatedly sighing). She hadn't noticed, but decided to pull the "oh shit string". A couple minutes later 8 nurses were in the room with a crash cart, working feverishly while one nurse kept taking her BP and calling out smaller and smaller numbers until it stopped registering. Meanwhile, I'm stuck in a chair in the corner, trying not to be in the way, and coming to terms that I might be going home alone. Which, thankfully, I did not. Cancer is bullshit.
- sfn42 2y ago
  That sounds like a nightmare, I'm glad you didn't go home alone.
lightedman 2y ago
This actually makes sense and mimics the results I got doing experiments with flashed high-intensity UVC for sterilizing surfaces a few years back. You don't really need to leave UVC going for a couple of minutes. Two high-intensity pulses similar to what a camera flash would do for an exposure does the trick, assuming you put enough power per square millimeter down on the surface. Obviously I wouldn't try that on important living tissues, but microorganisms certainly don't survive what amounts to a photonic nuclear blast.
fabifabulous 2y ago
It worked very well for my father in-law‘s prostate cancer.

129 points by bentocorp 2y ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proton_therapy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proton_therapy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proton_therapy#FLASH_therapy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proton_therapy#FLASH_therapy

AIorNot 2y ago

This is such a great example of why pursing knowledge for knowledge sake in pure science leads to advancement in areas we might not expect…

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

linsomniac 2y ago

I sure hope they make some progress because current treatment seems pretty archaic. My wife recently went through chemo and rad. I'm thankful that I was able to go to her treatments, because the first chemo. Shortly after it started, I pointed out that she was really flush and had started "breathing funny" (kind of repeatedly sighing). She hadn't noticed, but decided to pull the "oh shit string". A couple minutes later 8 nurses were in the room with a crash cart, working feverishly while one nurse kept taking her BP and calling out smaller and smaller numbers until it stopped registering. Meanwhile, I'm stuck in a chair in the corner, trying not to be in the way, and coming to terms that I might be going home alone. Which, thankfully, I did not. Cancer is bullshit.

sfn42 2y ago
That sounds like a nightmare, I'm glad you didn't go home alone.

lightedman 2y ago

This actually makes sense and mimics the results I got doing experiments with flashed high-intensity UVC for sterilizing surfaces a few years back. You don't really need to leave UVC going for a couple of minutes. Two high-intensity pulses similar to what a camera flash would do for an exposure does the trick, assuming you put enough power per square millimeter down on the surface. Obviously I wouldn't try that on important living tissues, but microorganisms certainly don't survive what amounts to a photonic nuclear blast.

fabifabulous 2y ago

It worked very well for my father in-law‘s prostate cancer.