By: Nour Hany

Brain cancer has always been a great challenge for scientists, as it is really hard for treatment to work in most cases. However, the medical field does not stop working on creating new methods to treat brain cancer; new methods include photodynamic therapy and sonodynamic therapy.

Currently, brain cancer is treated with surgery followed by chemo/radiotherapies. The surgery removes the bulk of brain cancer, and chemo/radiotherapies work on destroying any remaining cancerous cells. However, this procedure does not work with most patients, as the cancer invades deeper into the tissue.

The new method, photodynamic therapy, uses inactive drugs in the cancerous cells of the brain. When exposed to light, the drug is reactivated, killing the cancerous brain cells. This technology is implemented during the surgery to remove a brain tumor in order to kill any remaining cancerous cells in the surrounding tissue.

Another technology called sonodynamic therapy is being developed as a more advanced method for treating brain cancer. This technology uses ultrasound instead of light to activate the drug. As photodynamic therapy depends on light when targeting cancerous cells in the brain, some of these cells may easily escape and could not be killed. However, in the case of sonodynamic therapy, ultrasound is more likely to reach these cancerous cells, as it penetrates deeper into the tissue.

In a study testing the effectiveness of sonodynamic therapy, it showed that this technology activates the same drugs as in the case of photodynamic therapy; using both technologies achieved the most effective results. Although more studies need to be done for more understanding of sonodynamic therapy, the current study shows a promising future in the world of brain cancer treatment.

Reference

www.labroots.com