Novel therapy to destroy cancer cells via laser drug activation

London, Oct 13 (ANI): A revolutionary cancer treatment, called the Photodynamic therapy (PDT), could destroy cells in a patient's tumour without any side effects of surgery or chemotherapy.

PDT uses a laser to activate an otherwise harmless drug inside the patient's tumour, destroying cancer cells without damaging the surrounding healthy tissue.

The method uses a few minutes to kill the cancerous cells without any sign of side effects.

Doctors are conducting the first trials of PDT in pancreatic cancer, a disease that currently has a survival rate of just 3 percent.

But gastroenterologist Dr Stephen Pereira said more money is desperately needed to continue the research.

PDT has already been approved by the National Institute For Health And Clinical Excellence to treat cancers affecting the skin, head and neck and the gullet, among others, but only 1 percent of suitable patients are given the treatment. (ANI)