Into the Future: Cancer, Magnetism, and Bacteria
COULD MAGNETS AND BACTERIA be a way to manage cancer in the future? Successful management with drugs such as chemotherapy requires that we get the medicines into the right place. Sounds simple, but it is not always easy. Enter bacteria.
Medical News Today recently looked at some futuristic approaches to cancer management, and I want to explore one of these innovations with you. If I asked you your thoughts on cancer management in the future, I’d bet that you didn’t think about using magnetically responsive bacteria.
Prof. Simone Schürle-Finke, Ph.D., from ETH Zurich in Switzerland, has some interesting ideas about using specialized bacteria to deliver therapeutic agents for cancer. Her thoughts are in the context of long-held knowledge about the ability of particular bacteria to colonize tumors and promote shrinkage of the disease. More about her research in a bit, as I want first to provide some background.
Tweak to Treat: Reprogramming Bacteria
I am a radiation oncologist. I treat patients with cancer. One of the problems we face in cancer management is that drugs (for example, chemotherapy) can affect normal cells adversely. In addition, chemotherapy does not always penetrate solid tumor tissues. Cancer cells can also develop resistance to the chemicals…
