Scientists continue to work on a promising method to destroy cancer cells, using vibrations instead of surgery.
Research teams from Rice University, Texas A&M University, and the University of Texas have discovered that the atoms in dye molecules, often used for medical imaging, can vibrate in unison when stimulated. When the dye atoms are stimulated by a near-infrared light, the membranes of the cancer cells rupture.
According to Houston's Rice University, the method had a 99% efficiency rate against lab cultures of human melanoma cells and half of the mice with melanoma tumours within the study became cancer free after the treatment.
Rice University chemist James Tour called the treatment "molecular jackhammers."
"It is a whole new generation of molecular machines," he said.
"They are more than one million times faster in their mechanical motion than [similar] motors, and they can be activated with near-infrared light rather than visible light."
Using near-infrared light ensures the light can penetrate far deeper into the body than visible light can, having access to organs and bones without damaging tissue.
Near-infrared light can go as deep as 10 centimetres into the human body whereas visible light is only able to penetrate half a centimetre into the body.
Scientists are saying this discovery means cancer in bones and organs could potentially be treated without surgery, due to the near-infrared lights.
The researchers say the next steps for them is to find other molecules that can be used similarly to treat cancers "at the molecular scale".
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