nanoknife-chinese-university.jpg (Photo : www.bschool.cuhk.edu.hk)
Doctors at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) made history after they successfully killed cancerous cells using a "NanoKnife," a first invention in the entire Asia region.
The NanoKnife is a cutting-edge technology, the latest tool ever created in the fight against cancer. It uses electricity for cancer treatment and minimizes harm on the surrounding blood vessels and nerves.
The successful operation by doctors at CUHK became the first in Asia that involved the new NanoKnife technology. The new cancer treatment technology only leaves a wound about the size of a needle hole.
The successful NanoKnife cancer treatment was carried out on a patient named Lam, a 67-year-old male patient that had liver cancer. The operation was performed last month and the patient is now in recovery.
The operation involved inserting electrode needles zapped with electric pulses. The needles, measuring only one millimeter in diameter, were then inserted into the man's liver tumor. The entire procedure is monitored by ultrasound and X-ray machines.
According to Professor Yu Chun-ho, CUHK's director for Vascular and Interventional Radiology Foundation Clinical Science Centre, the entire procedure took only one hour. Aside from treating liver cancer, the NanoKnife technology can also be performed for treatment of early-stage lung and kidney cancers.
Yu said among the major advantages of the NanoKnife technology is that the actual operation does not harm the surrounding blood vessels or nerves and that the patient can usually get out of the hospital the day after the operation. Earlier, scientists at Tsinghua University announced that they have found and identified a protein that signifies the presence of cancer, enabling easier diagnosis.
The scientists identified the protein "H-S-P 90 Alpha" as five times more prevalent in people with cancer compared to those who are healthy.
