New thermotherapy technique ‘could prove effective against cancer’

Scientists have created a new method of cancer thermotherapy utilising hyperthermia, which could prove to be a viable alternative to chemotherapy.

Researchers at Virginia Tech, in collaboration with Indian colleagues, have discovered how to use magnetised ferrofluid to target cancerous cells and expose them to elevated temperatures.

This process allows the tumour cells to be heated to around 56 degrees C, thus killing them, while maintaining the healthy surrounding tissue at a normal body temperature.

It was previously known that heating cancer cells in this way can slow or stop their growth, but the necessary temperature would also kill normal cells if magnetic fluid hyperthermia was not used.

The researchers will now test their new method on various cancer cells, with apparatus for the tests now being produced.

According to Cancer Research UK, 297,991 British people were diagnosed with cancer in 2007, with breast cancer rating as the most prominent form.