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Device Could Help Prevent Breast Cancer’s Spread

Author: Rheta Mankin
by Rheta Mankin
Posted: Oct 22, 2015

As one of the most common forms of cancer diagnosed in American women, breast cancer is a serious concern. While rapid treatment can prove especially helpful when the disease is caught early, the spread of cancerous cells to other portions of the body tends to remain a nagging concern for many patients. Enter a new device developed by researchers Lonnie Shea and Jacqueline Jeruss.

The new device is designed to attract and effectively capture cancer cells. The design was created to provide a better way for doctors to detect cancer’s spread earlier in an effort to improve outcomes. The device, as it turns out, may also help prevent the spread of cancer in the first place.

The breakthrough technology is a small, sponge-like creation that is porous in nature. It is implanted into a woman’s body to serve as a "scaffold" to trap metastatic cancer cells and prevent them from entering the blood stream. In doing so, it serves as an early warning sign for cancer’s spread. This, in turn, enables doctors to move swiftly with potentially life-saving treatments.

Another upside of the device, researchers have found, is that it seems to help prevent the spread of cancer. In a test on mice, about 88 percent fewer cancer cells spread to the lungs of creatures with the devices versus those that did not have it.

Not quite ready for widespread use, the device is still under development. Researchers say, however, that human clinical trials are next. If the device continues to produce results, it may soon be made available to women at high-risk for breast cancer’s spread.

Women are urged to discuss breast cancer with their doctors. Early detection and treatment of this disease can greatly increase survival chances. The disease is estimated to impact some 230,000 women a year and another 2,300 men.

About AuthorChoice Cancer Care is an independent, physician-owned cancer center network. Dr. Gregory Echt, a radiation oncologist with over two decades of experience, is the founder of Choice Cancer Care. Choice Cancer Care is among the busiest practices in the country for brachytherapy, or prostate seed implant therapy – a cancer treatment plan for prostate cancer that provides remarkable success rates and fewer life-limiting side effects.

About the Author

North Texas based Choice Cancer Care is a physician-owned cancer treatment center. Dr. Gregory Echt, a radiation oncologist specializes in the most highly sophisticated methods of chemotherapy and radiation therapy available today.

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Author: Rheta Mankin

Rheta Mankin

Member since: Aug 25, 2014
Published articles: 16

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