FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM APRIL 19, 2018 • WELLNESS • THE QUEENS COURIER 31
Science fi ction or fact? New treatments for diseases like cancer
If bioelectronic medicine sounds futuristic,
it’s because many of its applications
operate like something out of a science
fi ction movie. But at its core, bioelectronic
medicine is simply the use of technology
to treat disease and injury.
Some applications include tools that
you’re probably already familiar with,
like cochlear implants and cardiac pacemakers.
When these technologies were
fi rst introduced, they were considered
revolutionary. While still important
advancements, they are now commonplace
instruments in a doctor’s toolbox.
Bioelectronic medicine can involve
implanting a device that impacts neural
signals which could impact a variety of
infl ammatory diseases from rheumatoid
arthritis to Crohn’s disease, Parkinson’s
disease, Alzheimer’s disease and more.
Th ere is ongoing research into whether
such stimulation could potentially
impact paralysis as well. It can also be
used as a way to assess and track diseases
like diabetes.
As the fi eld continues to evolve, newer
applications in bioelectronic medicine
continue to be approved by the U.S.
Food and Drug Administration.
Take, for example, Tumor Treating
Fields, a therapy that utilizes the natural
electrical properties of dividing cancer
cells to treat cancer without many of the
life-altering side eff ects associated with
other traditional treatments.
Patients wear a device that creates
electric fi elds tuned to specifi c frequencies
to disrupt cell division, inhibiting
tumor growth and causing aff ected cancer
cells to die. Th e therapy, which you
can learn more about on Novocure.com,
received its fi rst approval by the FDA for
a specifi c type of aggressive brain cancer
in 2011.
Clinical research on Tumor Treating
Fields has continued, and the treatment
shows promise in multiple solid tumor
types - including some of the most
aggressive forms of cancer. Th e therapy
has been shown to have minimal side
eff ects, with mild to moderate skin irritation
being the most common side eff ect.
Bioelectronic treatments not only have
the benefi t of typically causing fewer side
eff ects, but there is also room to improve
the treatment through engineering.
“One of the benefi ts of having a device
over a drug is we can continue to develop
and improve the technology over
time,” explained Eilon Kirson, Chief
Science Offi cer and Head of Research
and Development at Novocure. “We’re
not locked into a chemical formula. Th e
platform can continue to evolve.”
Th e fi eld of bioelectronic medicine
itself continues to progress, having only
come into being in the late 20th century.
With so much advancement made
in such a short time, the promise of
what may come in the future feels pulled
straight from the big screen.
Courtesy BPT
wellness