Researchers from the Houston Methodist Neurological Institute have developed a magnetic helmet to treat glioblastoma tumors. The team has announced that they have managed to shrink the deadly tumor by more than one-third with the help of the helmet that produces a noninvasive oscillating magnetic field.
During the human trials, the patient wore the helmet and was administered in his home. Unfortunately, the patient succumbed to death from an unrelated injury about a month into the trial. However, during the brief treatment, researchers claim they were able to shrink 31 percent of the tumor mass.
Rapid response to new treatment
Additionally, an autopsy of the brain showed the swift response to the new treatment. Dr. David S. Baskin said because of the courageous patient, researchers were able to test and verify the impact of the world’s first non-invasive therapy for glioblastoma.
After the patient’s death, the family allowed for an autopsy, making “an invaluable contribution” to the further study and development of the potential therapy. Glioblastoma is said to be the deadliest brain cancer in adults with a high fatality rate.
Researchers also had approval from the FDA for the treatment of the patient with the newly developed Oncomagnetic Device under an Extended Access Program. The device was first tested on mice at the time.
Innards of the helmet
The treatment involves the application of an oscillating magnetic field generated by rotating permanent magnets in a specific frequency and at a specific time. The first time the treatment was given to the patient was under supervision in the clinic. Future treatments were administered at the patient’s home for a maximum of six hours a day.
The device packs three oscillators fitted in the helmet and are connected to a microprocessor-based electronic controller that has a rechargeable battery. The team says during the five weeks of treatment, the magnetic therapy was well-tolerated, and tumor mass shrunk by almost one-third.
Recently, a new study linked all known forms of cancer to transcriptional regular called Yes-associated protein (YAP). Scientists discovered distinct differences among cancer cells that do express YAP, which they referred to as “YAPon” cancers, in contrast to “YAPoff” cancers, which do not express YAP.
