The molecule is activated by light and thus triggers a process that leads to the self-destruction process of cancer cells. According to the researchers, this cell death can occur within minutes, while healthy cells remain unharmed.
One of the most important advantages of the method is that it can be aligned extremely precisely: only the area reached by the light is treated.
Why is this a big step forward?
One of the biggest problems of current chemotherapy is that it does not distinguish between healthy and diseased cells. Therefore, the known side effects occur:
Hair loss
Strong nausea
Weakening of the immune system
Extreme fatigue
Susceptibility to infection.
The new light therapy, on the other hand, is a local, targeted procedure that exclusively affects tumor tissue. Researchers say this can significantly reduce the burden of the treatments.
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