The most prevalent type of cancer in women is breast cancer, and it is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality in females globally. In 2018, breast cancer was the most common type of cancer in Malta with an incidence of 15.4 per cent, and a mortality rate of 6.8 per cent. Treatments for breast cancer vary depending on the type of cancer, the stage it is in when detected and other complications. The main modalities for treating breast cancer are radiotherapy, chemotherapy, hormone therapy and surgery. As effective as these methods may be, they come with unwanted physical or psychosocial side effects.
This is where hyperthermia can make a difference. Hyperthermia is the heating of a region on the body to increase the cells’ temperature up to a maximum of 45 degrees Celsius. This rise in temperature does not necessarily kill the cells but it damages the cells enough to make them more sensitive to radiotherapy or chemotherapy. Heating the malignant cells inhibits a repair mechanism within the cells, so that they are not able to repair any sublethal damage caused by other treatment procedures. Side effects caused by radiotherapy and chemotherapy can be minimised, as smaller doses are needed to achieve the same level of damage to the malignant cells.
Unlike gamma rays, the microwaves used in this emerging therapeutic technology, are a non-ionising source of electromagnetic energy, because the frequencies which define microwaves do not have enough energy to cause mutations in the cells’ DNA. This energy transferred to biological tissue causes water and fat molecules to rotate at a faster rate, which produces a rise in temperature, much like a microwave oven heats up food.
Inducing hyperthermia within the cells through microwaves is a non-invasive approach, where the energy is transferred to the tissue using external antennas surrounding the targeted area. Current research being carried out by the Electromagnetics Research Group at the University of Malta (UM), funded by the Alive Charity Foundation through the Research, Innovation and Development Trust (RIDT) of the UM, aims to design such a hyperthermia system for breast cancer treatment. The system will be designed to heat the targeted cancerous tissue while avoiding damage to healthy tissue surrounding the tumour. This focusing of energy relies heavily on accurate knowledge of the interaction of electromagnetic fields with the biological breast tissue. The designed antenna system will be extensively tested through computational simulations and laboratory experiments before any clinical trials can take place.
Jeantide Said Camilleri, Phd student, research support officer
Sound bites
• A recent study presented at the Society of Interventional Radiology’s 2020 Annual Scientific Meeting demonstrates how augmented reality can help doctors visualise the patient’s internal anatomy during microwave ablation of liver tumours. The technology was assessed in a human pilot study, where two-dimensional computerised tomography (CT) scans obtained before surgery were converted into three-dimensional holograms, to map out the tumour site within the liver and the surrounding structures. This new technique allowed for a better visualisation of the location of the probe within the liver for a more precise ablation procedure.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/06/200615092737.htm
• Researchers in Germany have devised a method of detecting COVID-19 symptoms using infrared and microwave technology. Urs Schnieder and his colleagues from the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation in Stuttgart, Germany are already testing the prototype system at a hospital to help ensure the safety of patients and frontliners in the pandemic. The system, controlled at a safe distance from a laptop, checks for fever and measures reflected microwaves. This measurement checks for breathing and increased heart rates, much like a radar gun is used to measure the speed of vehicles. Such a tool could be critical in helping control the spread of COVID-19 in hospitals and in places like airports and care homes.
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Did you know?
• In 3000 B.C., the Egyptians were the first to use heat as a treatment for breast cancer.
• In 1891, Nikola Tesla was the first to realise that high-frequency alternating currents can produce heating effects within biological tissue.
• Microwaves were used to cook food for the first time in 1933, when Westinghouse demonstrated this at the Chicago World’s Fair.
• The International Commission on Non-Ionising Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) specialises in determining exposure limits for electromagnetic fields, for example, mobile phones.
For more trivia see: www.um.edu.mt/think