Text: Stuart Sweenie
Photography: Caroline Hargreaves
PDT arrived as a feasible medical treatment in the 1980’s, as a low-risk alternative to the traditional methods of skin cancer treatment, namely surgery and chemotherapy. A light-sensitive pharmaceutical is first applied to the patient. Typically this is administered intravenously for internal cancers, or more commonly, as a cream applied directly to the affected area of skin. The chemical is absorbed, and converted to a light sensitive compound which latches itself to the tumour over the course of several hours. Light of specific frequency (depending on the pharmaceutical used) is then applied directly to the tumour, arousing a localised cell-destroying photoactive reaction, which eliminates the cancerous tissue. What’s more, due to the nature of the cell-destruction, the surrounding healthy tissue is left untouched.
The breakthrough, the product of St Andrews’ physicist Professor Ifor Samuel, and dermatologist Professor James Ferguson of Ninewells Hospital, is a portable ‘light-bandage’ that can be worn by the patient with minimal inconvenience. The light-bandage consists of a light emitting plaster, with its own battery power source that is no bigger than the average phone or mp3 player which most people regularly carry in today’s world. As such, with the application of cream and bandage, the patient can receive their cancer treatment while simultaneously shopping, watching a movie, or eating-out. The process is in fact so simple, that the plaster can be applied at the doctor’s surgery, or even at home, eliminating that time-consuming trip to the local hospital. And with aftercare consisting of several hours or days, in comparison to weeks or months with the traditional methods of treatment, you can see why this technology could soon be in high demand.
The benefits our generation could reap from this breakthrough are yet to be seen, but early tests at Ninewells Hospital, showed that, after 3 months, cancer had completely cleared in 9 out of the 12 test patients. It is estimated that there are at least 100,000 cases of both non-melanoma and malignant melanoma skin cancers in the UK each year, resulting in over 2000 deaths, and with the increase in low-cost no-frills flights abroad, this figure looks set to rise.
However, the benefits of the future look more aesthetically guided than a solution to our ever-growing worship of the sun. The creators of this technology believe it could be implemented in the rapidly expanding cosmetic industry. In the days of narcissistically orientated beauty, it is hoped that the ‘light-bandage’ could also be put to use on several skin conditions - one of which being acne. Millions of teenagers around the globe deal with this condition daily - a problem that seems so futile to those on the outside - yet one that those of us who have had to deal with know all too well.
On the other end of the scale of maturity the light-bandage enters into a much larger sector – one in which the market is projected to be worth over $115 billion by next year – anti-age treatment. Although it is in its premature stages, we could see an ‘anti-wrinkle’ treatment that is proven to perform. It seems this new piece of technology could very well be close to aiding our endless pursuit of perfection.
Sources:
University Of St Andrews
Cancer Research UK
CosmeticsDesign.com
Stuart Sweenie is from Scotland and studies Physics and Mathematics at the University of St Andrews, Scotland.