Health and Healthcare Systems

This new laser can track down and kill cancer cells

Scientist Paul Clarke looks at a picture of labelled cells on a monitor at the Institute of Cancer Research in Sutton, July 15, 2013. Picture taken July 15, 2013. To match Insight CANCER-DRUGS/       REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth (BRITAIN - Tags: HEALTH SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY) - GM1E99Q134S01

This treatment would ensure that cancer cells are destroyed before they spread through the body. Image: REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth

Victor Tangermann
Writer and Photo Editor, Futurism
Share:
Our Impact
What's the World Economic Forum doing to accelerate action on Health and Healthcare Systems?
The Big Picture
Explore and monitor how Healthcare Delivery is affecting economies, industries and global issues
A hand holding a looking glass by a lake
Crowdsource Innovation
Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale
Stay up to date:

Healthcare Delivery

Cancer zapper

A team of scientists from the University of Arkansas Medical Sciences have successfully tested a laser that can track down cancer cells and kill them — all from outside the skin.

While being completely non-invasive, “this technology has the potential to significantly inhibit metastasis progression,” Vladimir Zharov, author of the paper that was published today in Science Translational Medicine, tells IEEE Spectrum. The idea is to kill of cancer cells before they are able to metastasize, or spread, through the body — the primary cause of cancer-related deaths.

Popping

By shining a laser at these circulating tumor cells, they end up absorbing far more heat energy than regular cells. The heat causes them to expand and collapse.

“The use of lasers has revolutionized disease diagnosis and treatment. However, the large size of lasers has prevented their use in many medical applications at the cellular level,” said Zharo in a 2017 statement.

And the results are promising: “In one patient, we destroyed 96 percent of the tumor cells,” said Zharov. And that’s before they cranked the laser to max power.

Have you read?

Blood pact

It’s not the first device of its kind, but Zharov claims it’s the first to be demonstrated in humans. Dozens of devices have tried something similar, including a wrist-worn deviceput together by University of Michigan researchers.

But the new device has another big advantage: it can scan a liter of blood in an hour — far quicker than competing devices.

Don't miss any update on this topic

Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.

Sign up for free

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

Related topics:
Health and Healthcare SystemsFourth Industrial Revolution
Share:
World Economic Forum logo
Global Agenda

The Agenda Weekly

A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda

Subscribe today

You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in our emails. For more details, review our privacy policy.

Funding the future: Sustainable financing models to help the fight against antimicrobial resistance

Shyam Bishen

October 10, 2024

About us

Engage with us

  • Sign in
  • Partner with us
  • Become a member
  • Sign up for our press releases
  • Subscribe to our newsletters
  • Contact us

Quick links

Language editions

Privacy Policy & Terms of Service

Sitemap

© 2024 World Economic Forum